Somebody That She Used to Know
by BelleOfSummer
Summary: Adventurous, rich Draco Malfoy was never a one-woman man, so he'd broken it off with Hermione to venture out. After two years of limitless womanizing, he realized he was just truly lost without her. But what if he couldn't get her back… because she couldn't remember him anymore? Draco/Hermione Theo/Hermione
1. Who Are You?

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own any Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter world. They all belong to JK Rowling.**

"**Somebody That She Used to Know"**

_Summary: Adventurous, rich Draco Malfoy was never a one-woman man, so he'd broken it off with Hermione to venture out. After two years of limitless womanizing, he realized he was just truly lost without her. But what if he couldn't get her back… because she couldn't remember him anymore?_

**Chapter One**

**"Who Are You?"**

Draco Malfoy was not a stalker.

No, scratch that. _The_ Draco Malfoy was not and never would be a stalker.

How could the _perfect_, exceedingly gorgeous, and filthy rich Most Eligible Bachelor in the Wizarding world be one?

At the age of twenty-six, he was a powerful business man, the richest of his age. In other month or so his beautiful, flawless face was in the headlines. His company catered to a variety of businesses, covering everything from real estate, to financial, to agriculture and mining…

He was one of the youngest business tycoons in the Wizarding world, a business celebrity. Wherever he went, there were always those nosy paparazzi, taking his pictures here and there.

He couldn't blame them, of course. Their job was to feed people with what they wanted. And the people just couldn't get enough of _him_. One word from him and men would tremble, women would faint. His word was law. His surname was synonymous with gold and luxury, a surname every girl killed to have.

He was living life like a fucking king.

He was the one being stalked, for pity's sake.

So he was not a stalker, except now.

"Aren't we going to get jailed for what we're doing?" Blaise Zabini, his best friend of more than twenty years, hushed behind him. "This is a fucking private villa, Draco. And Merlin knows just what Potter would do to us if he knew that we're actually breaking inside his precious fiancée's private all-women's weekend bash just so you can spy on Hermione. Everyone knows that Ginny Weasley has the blood of an Amazon in her. This is a strict all-girls getaway party and if she fucking smells a single male, I'm sure she's going to kill and eat him."

"I'm not sure if you purposely made that statement to scare me or you just really have that sick fantasy of the Weaslette eating you up," Draco grinned suggestively behind him.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm not the one who's hopelessly stalking his ex-girlfriend here and umph—!" Blaise was suddenly silenced when Draco swiftly tugged on his shirt to hide them behind a beach house curtain. He was about to grumble and complain about the brutality of his best friend by shoving his precious chiseled face into the pristine glass when he suddenly realized that the object of his best friend's unhealthy obsession was currently walking and laughing together with her friends.

"Well, there she is mate, obviously still prettier than you are now," Blaise tried to joke as he looked at his friend, but the latter was too serious and pensive to even laugh back, so Blaise decided it was best to shut his mouth for now.

Draco smiled slightly as he stared at the girl of his dreams.

His Hermione.

For years, she'd always been his and nothing had really changed. It would never change.

She was walking in flip-flops, wearing a white, loose racerback burnout tanktop that stopped at her thighs. It was so thin that he could clearly see her sexy black bikini underneath. Her hair was loosely pulled back into a fun, messy, flirty updo, with her fringe allowed to fall softly to frame her delicate, slightly sun-kissed face.

She was chuckling along with her friends about some topic that he couldn't even care less about.

What he cared about was her angelic smile and the soft jingle of her giggles that two years ago was always aimed at him.

What he cared about was her hair, which was always so messy when she woke up in the morning next to him and that he'd smoothed it out before kissing her. What he cared about was those gorgeous legs which had so often been tangled around his waist. What he cared about was her soft, silky skin, which he had always touched, caressed and kissed on a regular basis…

_Fuck_, he missed her.

It had only been two years but he _really_, really missed her. Seeing her like this made him feel like he might burst.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

And what he cared about was getting her back into his arms again. He was going to get back what was rightfully his.

He couldn't even believe that he had let her go. Twice.

In those two situations, he had been the one to break it off. He'd been the biggest jerk on the planet and he knew it would take some time for his girl to forgive him. But she'd always been the most forgiving person on earth. She would come to see just how much he had really changed and that this time he would keep his promise, love her in every way possible, and would never let her go again.

Looking at her now, he was reminded of the best four years of his life and the very first time everything started, and ended.

The war had changed everything.

The Wizarding society had drastically changed after Voldemort's fall. A lot of Death Eaters had been sentenced to death. They each were sentenced to receive a Dementor's Kiss, including Draco's father who had been in the inner circle. He was considered a madman by many, obsessed about the purity of his blood and drowned into the mistaken prejudice he had fed to his family.

But those years had changed Draco for the better. What didn't kill you made you stronger, after all.

It had taken years to raise his family's name once again. Draco was a mere 17-year-old boy that time, only barely turning 18, but he was given such a heavy responsibility, especially after his mother had fallen into a great depression because of his father's death.

Yet he had done it. Many had marveled at how he had done it. But it was all about hard work and an astonishing thick skin against all those hushed judgments… and because of Hermione Granger.

He remembered the moment after his father's trial before the Wizengamot, after he was sentenced to a kiss in Azkaban. He had tried so hard to look like it didn't matter as he stood beside his wailing mother.

And _she_ was there, beside Potter, who had tried his hardest to testify to help his family. She was one of the well-loved, valuable and precious war heroes; the brain of the trio, as they said. Even if they hadn't managed to save his father, at least they were able to save him and his mother. He was grateful for that little blessing, but he just couldn't bring himself to face them.

He was walking down the hallway when she called after him. He remembered how her hair danced with the airstream, and how flushed her face was because of her run.

He honestly thought she was going to preach her pity to him, to try to express sympathy to him because of what happened to his father, just like everyone else was doing. Everyone was expecting him to burst into tears just like his mother. He was sick of it. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He didn't need anyone's useless, worthless pity. But he stopped to listen to her out of gratitude, knowing that she, Potter and Weasley had somehow helped with his case.

What she said was far from what he was expecting, however. _"You have a future ahead of you, Draco. We all have. This is just a new beginning. You're smart and talented. Make good use of it, I know you can make it better for you and your mother."_

He had almost stepped back when she reached out to gently squeeze his hand. But he didn't.

She had the softest hand in the world. And she called him by his first name, as if they were friends, as if she truly cared for him. Even if it wasn't true, he really appreciated it. Because in that moment, she was the only one who made him feel that he wasn't alone.

He would never forget it. Even today he remembered the tingle of her touch upon his skin.

He didn't know what came over him, but as he watched her smile and walk away, he promised himself that he'd actually be better so that everyone would see, _she_ would see, that he could survive.

That time, nobody really expected anything good from him, nobody really believed in him.

Except Granger.

That one statement kept him going. He didn't really care if it came from Granger who was his nemesis' best friend. By that time, he really couldn't care where that statement came from.

What mattered was that it kept him going.

Months later, they met again. She had decided to go back to Hogwarts to sit her N.E.W.T.s and she was the only one of the trio to do this, which left Draco a little… happy, though he firmly denied it.

They were civil with each other and had even shared a smile or two in the first month. They were both chosen as the Head Boy and Head Girl so a truce was in order, after all.

Draco really didn't know how his little obsession with the Head Girl started.

Maybe it was the morning that he saw her sitting by the window of their head dorm as she read the morning newspaper. The sunlight beams twirled and danced across her smooth, porcelain skin. She was almost glowing; he just couldn't take his eyes off her. When she looked up and caught him staring at her by the doorway, she had blushed and looked away. She had the most beautiful blush he had ever seen in his life.

Maybe it began the time he had asked her to help him out with his Arithmancy homework on that rainy night. They were both seated near the hearth. It was supposed to be a very cold night, but when he had looked up at her, chewing her lower lip in deep thought for the equation she couldn't seem to solve, he just knew he'd never felt so warm and alive all his life.

Maybe it was when he had first heard her squealing in delight when she witnessed the first snow of the year. She had practically dragged him outside only to have a little snowball fight with him.

Maybe it began when he finally had the guts to ask her out for a Hogsmeade date. Or when she said yes. He was a nervous wreck, but he ended up having that shit-eating grin by the time he heard her shy answer. They ended up laughing and running around the Hogsmeade village and it turned out to be the greatest weekend of his life.

Or maybe it was when she found him inside the bathroom, drowned with firewhiskey and crying pathetically on the floor on the day of his father's execution. It had been the lowest point of his life knowing that his mother had even fallen into a great depression and that they had confined her inside St. Mungo's just to stop her from continually hurting and cutting herself.

He had no one. But Hermione was there to embrace him, to kiss his head as he buried it in her chest like a little lost wounded puppy.

Without her, he could have really just killed himself right there.

But she was his sunshine, the only thing that made him smile despite everything bad that was happening to him.

She was beautiful as she walked down that staircase during their Christmas ball.

Right in that moment, when he looked up and stared at her, he just knew he wanted her.

He had asked her to dance with him, and he ended up kissing her.

He couldn't help it. Her lips were so soft, so red, so velvety… he needed to know what they tasted like.

Hermione's kisses were so different from that of any other girl he had sampled in the past. She was so shy, so innocent, so pure, so untainted… but also so passionate in everything that she did.

She had this fire inside her and he wanted to own it… to own _her_.

And so he gave in to his fixation of the little Gryffindor. He did everything to woo her. He gave her roses every day and he never failed to try to make her feel like the most special girl in the world.

It took two months of hard work before she finally gave in to his pursuits and another five months before she finally gave him everything of her. He was her first and he'd been very patient with her. He was the gentlest when he first took her. He could swear he'd never been that gentle in his past conquests, but when it came to Hermione, he could always make an exception.

She was just so beautiful in every way. He could swear no one had ever made him feel that way. She was a mystery to him and he didn't how it happened.

But last thing he knew, he was dangerously falling in love with Hermione Granger, and fast.

It scared him to death.

He couldn't handle the idea of falling in love. He'd never loved anyone, after all.

All his life, he had been the center of attention of the female population and he had enjoyed it to the highest limits. But it had always been one-sided every time. He had used them for entertainment and pleasure but then that was it.

This… feeling that he was having for Hermione was not normal for him.

He wasn't ready to face it yet so a day before their graduation, he broke it off with her.

She had been incredibly calm that day, asking him the reason why.

And he couldn't even answer anything back. Hermione was perfect and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was the girl of his dreams. It was just an issue about him.

He was just too afraid of how serious it all had gotten.

He had asked her if they could still be friends. Her answer was a hard slap. His face had hurt so fucking badly, but he knew he deserved it.

Hermione never showed herself on their graduation and he blamed himself greatly for it. She was the class Valedictorian and he had ruined it for her.

But he forced himself to move on without looking back. At least everything was back to normal.

He had the best two years after that. Draco wasn't proud of what his family had done in the past, but he was proud of what he had made up for it. His mother had finally survived her depression. It wasn't an easy task to help her out of it, but Draco was able to do it.

He worked harder than he'd ever had and with the help of his Father's galleons, he earned a name for himself in the business society. There was no question who was Draco Malfoy. He was the crème de la crème. He was the most eligible bachelor, even the richest of his age.

He'd been to places, been with different girls, and was pretty much a celebrity.

'Young, famous and filthy rich', that was what the name 'Draco Malfoy' stood for. Women, _beautiful_ women, threw themselves at him like he was a god. They practically worshipped him. Everyone loved him and he damn well enjoyed the spotlight.

But then, he saw _her_ again.

He was always out of the country so he hadn't seen a single glimpse of her in years.

It was on a business assembly.

They were hosting a ball to one of his mother's charities when he saw his sweet Hermione again…

She had become such a beautiful woman.

That night he couldn't take his eyes off her.

She was wearing a very sophisticated black evening gown with a sexy V neck halter that showed her flawless décolletage. Her smooth curls were swept back into a refined updo. She was glowing from head to toe. She looked like a goddess. Blaise had to remind him to close his mouth as he was practically gaping at her like a puffer fish.

He had tried to ask her for a dance that night but she turned him down, probably still carrying a grudge from what he had done to her years ago. She wasn't rude about it however and had excused herself politely.

But honestly, she really should have gotten over it already. They were so young and he was foolish back then.

He was beyond jealous when he finally learned that she was actually dating the famous Viktor Krum.

But after that night, he couldn't keep his mind off of her.

So he didn't stop there.

He hired some men to investigate her and later on found out that she had been in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, working hard in order to help and support neglected and deprived creatures such as house elves. Later on she was given a high position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The reason why she had accepted the job was because revolutionizing the Ministry was one of her goals. Even if this was so, however, she was still as passionate in helping and aiding funds to the underprivileged magical creatures, which was why she had attended the charity event and was one of the beneficiaries of the said event.

She was still his helpful and caring Hermione.

Draco had tried his hardest and had worked hard to be in her good graces again. He was the Founder and Managing Director of one of the greatest and most valued business organizations in the Wizarding world, the Malfoy Inc. and he had the power to aid such nonprofit organizations that used surplus revenues to achieve its goals.

By the help of his own Mother's charitable organization, he had bridged all the possible help Hermione and her goals needed and he had made sure that she knew that all the help came from _him_.

At first, Hermione resisted his help but later gave up when he wouldn't stop pursuing and fooling with her conscience. He was manipulative in every way. It was pure talent.

It was then that she was forced to have business dinners with him. The dinners had gone from weekly to daily, until Draco had practically visited her in her own office almost twice a day before he would pick her up for dinner to take her to some of the fanciest restaurants he could get them into. Every day, Hermione's office was covered in fresh white and red roses.

This led to the eventual breakdown of her relationship with Krum, much to Draco's evil pleasure

Viktor Krum was always busy, touring for his Quidditch matches and he was hardly ever home so the devious, scheming Slytherin took matters into his own hands. Viktor was beyond angry when he discovered Hermione's little dinner rendezvous with Draco and the fresh roses every morning didn't help as well.

But Draco had been the most charming man on earth. Hermione had already asked him to stop giving her roses, but somehow, he always got away with it.

His sources informed him that Viktor intended to propose to Hermione on her coming birthday and he could never allow for that to happen.

It was harder than he'd expected, but Draco finally ruined Hermione and Viktor's relationship… which sent Hermione running to the manipulative blond and crying in his arms after.

Hermione was his, end of story.

He begged her for a second chance and confessed to her how he still loved her and that he had been a total jerk when they were younger. He told her that he was a grown man and he was ready to prove to her that he had indeed changed. It had taken him so long, but eventually, she gave into all his pursuits.

He pampered her beyond belief. He would say that he was indeed the perfect boyfriend. After three months, he had even convinced her to stay with him at the huge Malfoy Manor. Hermione was initially apprehensive of the new setting but he was proud of how easily she had adjusted.

Narcissa Malfoy adored her to bits. His mother had even spoiled her rotten.

Their relationship got deeper and even more serious. Draco was completely blissful in those four years of his life with Hermione. It was just near perfect and every day she was becoming more and more beautiful in his sight.

Everything was perfect until his best friend, Blaise, invited him on a boys' weekend getaway. They drank, celebrated life and shagged some random hot girls.

And by that time, he just knew there was something lacking…

He wanted his life back.

Hermione was the love of his life, don't get him wrong. She was perfect in every way and no one could ever top her. But limiting himself to one woman alone was just too boring for a person such as Draco Malfoy.

He was always looking for something and he just couldn't get enough. His Mother told him that maybe he just needed to settle down. One of her biggest dreams was for her son to finally marry her darling, sweet Hermione.

But dammit, he was Draco Malfoy.

He was good looking, had the gorgeous body to boot and this to-die-for, perfect smile.

How on earth was he going to marry and settle himself to just one partner all his life? There were just too many colorful fishes in the ocean, and the ocean was wide. Even if Hermione was the girl of his dreams, he just couldn't possibly waste his youth by limiting himself that way.

After that crazy weekend, Draco was a mess.

He loved Hermione too much, which was why he had tried his hardest to never cheat on her for four years. He had never slept with anyone else in that span of time.

But then, there he was as he walked through that door, greeted by his loving girlfriend as she kissed him and asked him about his weekend.

He felt like shit doing it to her. He didn't even know why he had done it in the first place. No one could ever satiate him like Hermione. He had memorized her gorgeous body with all his heart and he was practically obsessed with her.

But there was just something about breaking rules, like perhaps having sex with two girls at the same time, or even three. And he couldn't do that with Hermione because he loved and respected her.

And then, there was this thought nagging in the back of his head to seek for more. That maybe there was really something greater out there. He wanted to venture out and see for himself what it was like at the other side of the ocean.

It was inevitable. He had to break her heart, _again_.

He hated doing it.

He hated seeing her cry that day while she asked him why.

Her question sounded familiar. But then, he had so blatantly done the same thing to her so many years ago.

The difference was that, this time, she didn't slap or hurt him.

She just simply looked at him, with tears in her eyes.

"_I hope you'll see what you're looking for. Because by the time you'll see me walk out of this door, Draco, you're permanently out of my life."_

He had wanted to take everything back just to stop her from crying, to stop her from walking away from him. But it wasn't that easy. It was too late. He had already made a decision.

He had broken her heart _again_.

But he broke up with her to make sure he wouldn't be able to cheat on her again. Couldn't she see? He just didn't want to hurt her any further.

Hermione left the Manor immediately and Draco quietly sat on the couch and drank his whiskey as he watched her go.

He was a _heartless bastard_, but he knew that.

It was the very first time that his mother screamed at him. Narcissa had also cried so hard he almost thought she was going to fall into depression again. She had loved Hermione so dearly and had considered her as her own daughter for four long years.

After Hermione was sent packing, he and Blaise started to travel the world and explore those different, exotic 'fishes' at the other side of the ocean together.

In those two years, they lived one hell of a life.

It was part of the game. Get into the fun, but when commitments come, get the fuck out while you still can.

It was that simple. His life was damn perfect.

Yes, Draco Malfoy owned the world. There was no question to that.

In their first year of travel, he was practically screaming in happiness. He was so damn free and he loved it. He drank, reveled, danced, flirted and had sex with any woman he liked. No holds barred.

He particularly enjoyed it when women had catfights for him. They were beautiful, feisty little creatures and he just adored them.

But after a year, he suddenly felt so… empty.

It suddenly felt like he was doing a useless routine over and over again. And he couldn't feel that sense of peace and contentment in anything he did.

Then, it suddenly hit him.

They were on the beach, with Blaise's blonde babe and Draco's new girlfriend for that week, Samantha, or at least he thought her name was Samantha; when Blaise suddenly mentioned how Draco's preference towards girls was so limited. Blaise was trying to flirt with Samantha and had mentioned that she was indeed Draco's type of girl. Draco had dated so many beautiful girls but he would always prefer those with brown curls and hazel eyes just like she did. Draco also had this finicky obsession of letting his girls wear shades of gold and red whenever they were having sex.

In that moment, all Draco could think of was her tears.

His Hermione and her tears.

It suddenly all came whirling back to him and he realized that there were times when he was so smashed that he called his lovers by _her_name while he was having sex with them. Along the way, he had always chosen girls who seemed to look the closest to Hermione's features.

It was ridiculous but he suddenly realized that it was _indeed_ true and even Blaise had noticed it.

He pushed her away because he wanted to venture out. He wanted to seek for more, for better…

What he didn't realize until now was that _nothing could ever be better than her _because she was _the best._

She was it.

She was the one.

And he had had _her_. But he just threw her away like a used bit of parchment. He had had everything and he had just thrown it away. He had had the rarest of all the diamonds in the world and he had thrown it away for useless rubbish.

He was an idiot.

And right now, all that he wanted was to take her back.

Hermione Granger had always been his.

Ever since she had first touched his hand in that Ministry lobby, he knew she was his.

She'd been his girl for years and he intended to seal that deal.

He should have listened to his mother before. He should have just given importance to what he already had. But he was such a fool.

And now he knew better.

He loved Hermione and he was sure that she still loved him back as well.

He would tell her that. He would tell her he was sorry and that he had made the biggest mistake of his life for letting her go. He would kneel in front of her if he had to. He just had to get her back.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Draco Malfoy needed his girl back and he would have her no matter what.

"Draco! What the fuck—" Blaise hissed when his friend all of a sudden jumped out of the curtains

The girls were so shocked they started screaming hysterically. Blaise had no choice but to show himself as well.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Ginny demanded as she pointed her wand at the two Slytherins. She and Parvati Patil were standing on either side of Hermione and they seemed to have backed away to protect her when they saw Draco.

"I need to talk to Hermione," Draco demanded while piercing his gaze towards his luscious witch who seemed to have coward away beside the eerily calm and listless Luna Lovegood.

"How dare you demand that? Get lost now or I'll go tell Harry before hexing your balls off!" Ginny screamed outrageously at the pair. The Weaslette was never one to be messed with. Blaise backed away a little and covered his precious balls.

"Shut up, Weaslette! You—"

"W-Who are you?" Hermione suddenly muttered nervously beside Luna who was hugging her tightly as if to calm her down.

"Baby," Draco started pleadingly towards Hermione. He knew he looked pathetic but he didn't care. "I know this is all so sudden but I'm really so sorry. I want you back, baby. I miss you so much. I love you and you're the only woman I'll ever love. Please—"

"I-I'm sorry, but I really don't know you," Hermione stared curiously at him, looking as if she really didn't recognize him.

"Baby, if this is all about what I've done to you, please hear me out, I just—"

"What? Why? What did you do to me?"

"I—what?"

"What did you do to me? And who are you?"

"I don't fucking understa—"

"I'm so sorry. But I really don't know you, sir. I think you've only mistaken me for someone," Hermione smiled at him calmly before she excused herself from the group.

Her friends followed behind her but not before Ginny Weasley had stomped on Draco's foot and he ended up cursing in pain. He screamed bloody murder as he attempted to follow them to demand they tell what the hell was wrong with his Hermione but then he was seized by Blaise to apparate away. Harry Potter and his Aurors might be here any second and he didn't fancy a little trip to Azkaban. The bloke was a little too obsessed with his shrieking fiancée to see reason.

* * *

"Are you alright, Hermione? What was that all about?" Parvati asked worriedly when they had all went inside the Summer House.

"Oh, those bloody Slytherins!" Ginny screamed outrageously. "Don't you worry, Hermione. They're really going to pay big time for sneaking inside my private villa! Especially that Malfoy! The nerve of him to even apologize to you after what he's done to you and what you've been through and—wait, what happened out there? Why did you act like you can't remember him? _Do you_ even remember him? Oh Merlin! You didn't attempt to obliviate yourself again from his memories, did you? Oh Mione! Please don't tell me you did it!" Ginny was bursting into tears now as she hugged her friend.

After Hermione's huge breakup with Draco, she was devastated to the point of dying. Hermione had tried countless of times to Obliviate herself, but in those occasions, it was either she was always too scared to do it or she was caught in the act of almost doing it by one of her friends. One time, Ginny had to wrestle her out of her wand when she tried to Obliviate herself after she got drunk.

"Oh that jerk! He isn't worth it, Hermione! Why? Why did you do this to yourself? Whhyyy?" Parvati cried with Ginny while shaking Hermione like she was a ragged doll. She looked like one of those hysterical people inside the theater doing a tragic, dreadful scene.

Oh the drama. She had to roll her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course I remember the bastard. But he doesn't need to know that, does he?" Hermione whispered as she stared blankly towards her friends. By that moment, venomous poison of vengeance was seen slithering in her eyes.

Twice was _enough_.

* * *

**A/N**

**Of course, first off, thank you to my awesome beta reader EchoDeltaNine for tidying this up!**

**I know I told you guys that I won't be posting a new story until I finished my "Almost Perfect, Almost Yours"! But this had been kicking out inside my head and I **_**just had**_** to post it! Please know however, that "Almost Perfect, Almost Yours" is still my number one priority at the meantime and this fic would have to wait until I'm done with the prior.**

**Thanks everyone! After my serious fic, I think it's time for me to do a little fluffy one! What do you think? Have a fun, blessed day!**

**Sue**


	2. Is That Your Smile?

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own any Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter world. They all belong to JK Rowling.**

**Chapter Two**

**"Is That Your Smile?"**

Draco Malfoy was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he followed his ex-girlfriend slash soon-to-be-girlfriend-again through the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

She looked beautiful strolling around the picturesque village of thatched cottages and shops. She was stunning in her vintage autumn dress, with lace stockings and lace-up boots. Her hair was playfully braided to the side, with classic pashmina scarf around her neck.

She had greeted a few people along the way, smiled to strangers even. She was glowing and she looked… happy.

"No. She was happier when she was with me," Draco whispered to himself, shaking his head, trying to push his mocking subconscious away. It was telling him that his Hermione was really better off without him just like his subjects and Blaise kept telling him.

He hated them at that moment.

He'd fought with Blaise last night. His best friend even had the gall to ask him to leave Hermione alone.

"_She seems happy now, mate. She's getting married, for pity's sake._ _Just let her be. I know she and I weren't exactly that close before, but she's a nice girl, okay? Just stay away. Stop fucking her life up again." _

Draco was beyond angry. He was practically seeing red. He was so livid that he started breaking whiskey bottles inside the bar, shouting at Blaise and placing all the blame on him. He was a bit tipsy. Okay, maybe he was really drunk, but he felt so betrayed that night. After all, if Blaise hadn't invited him to that reckless weekend getaway at his bachelor's pad then he could have kept his girl until now.

He had the best, most reassuring four years of his life with Hermione. She was perfect for him. He was perfect for her. _They were perfect for each other._ But his best friend ruined it. Yes, he might have done the damage himself as well, but really, Blaise had started it. Draco refused to acknowledge that it was his entire fault. He was a victim too, you know.

He was just a man, beautiful, but weak.

They just didn't know what was best for his Hermione. He knew that no matter what she did, she'd still come back to him. He, alone, could really make her happy. All the rest could try. But in the end, he knew she'd still come crawling back to him. Take Viktor Krum for example. It wouldn't make that much of a difference with her current fiancé now.

_She was his_, and no one else could ever have her. It was proven over many times now. No matter how fucked up he was, she'd still forgive him anyway, because she loved him. He knew she was just too hurt, which was why, maybe, she had said yes to the proposal. But he knew his Hermione above all. He was the only man for her. All the rest could fuck it.

He walked furtively behind her, just close enough to catch a glimpse of her braided hair and far enough so as not to be caught. She smelt of jasmine and vanilla… _Fuck_, he missed her.

She sauntered inside Tomes and Scrolls which was a specialist bookshop in Hogsmeade. He tried his hardest not to trip as he hastily bounded for the door she had left open. She frowned and looked around when the door took too long to close behind her. She shook her curiosity aside when the door finally shut closed.

Draco grinned mischievously behind a bookshelf just beside the door. He managed to creep inside when she wasn't looking. Oh, he was getting good at this stalking stuff. Well, he was a Malfoy, dammit. He was good at everything.

He'd been in denial from his subjects' information about Hermione. It appeared that she was actually engaged with none other than Theodore Nott. The bastard.

They said Theo and Hermione had been together for about a year now. Of course he wouldn't know since he was too busy touring the world; womanizing and probably ruining all his brain cells and liver in getting drunk and dallying on different clubs almost every night for two years.

But, really? Theodore Nott? He hadn't seen it coming.

He and Theo weren't exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either. Back in school, Theo had always been such a loner and he didn't exactly feel the need to join popular groups such as the one headed by Draco. He was quite intelligent and was pretty good at everything he did. He didn't need anyone and was probably the most independent student at school.

Theo was daunting and dominant as well, which was probably the reason why he was respected even if he didn't belong to any set of friends. In popular Slytherin night parties, Theo was always invited despite his solitary attitude; it was maybe because of his fairly good looks, mature build and exemplary abilities. He wasn't a bully like Draco was, but everybody feared him enough to know that crossing him was a bad option.

Despite his calm and composed behavior, Draco never really thought that Theo would be interested in Hermione. Yes, his Hermione was gorgeous, smart and the kind of girl that guys could never really ignore. He had had enough experience trying to shoo away those bastards at the Ministry who wanted to be near her and peep under her pencil skirt, not that he could blame them, of course.

But then Theo was… well, _Theo_. Despite his silence about it, Draco knew that Theo was still proud of his blood and ancestry. He was a Pureblood supremacist. His father was once a Death Eater and he proudly died being one. His family lineage was one of the things he valued the most and even if the war and prejudiced era was long gone, Theo was one of those Purebloods who still held on to his blood's purity.

But then again, Theo was probably the only one of his housemates who never teased Hermione about her blood or her looks during her younger, awkward days. Draco had always thought it was because it wasn't really his thing. He was usually more mature than the rest of his housemates. But then looking back, somehow, it probably wasn't the only reason why.

He was pretty good at Potions and he progressed to the N.E.W.T. level together with them, but Draco remembered that he'd usually ask Hermione for help, or just casually ask her about an ingredient or so. He'd always been more conciliatory towards her than the others. Draco really didn't mind at that time. He knew that Theo and Hermione somehow shared a comfortable passing acquaintance because Theo was occasionally paired up with her during Potions and she was generally an excellent partner. But then, that was it. Hermione was too busy with her blooming relationship with Draco and Theo was too busy being the freaky loner that he was. It suited everyone just fine.

_Until you decided to become such an asshole to her!_

Draco frowned and shook his head in desperation. Even his subconscious hated him now. Urgh! It must be the alcohol last night. He had woken up at noon with an earth-shattering headache because of it. When would everybody realize that he's sorry and that it wasn't really his fault?

Well, it was _mostly_ his fault, but surely not entirely!

Last night, his subjects had confirmed the reason why she couldn't remember him. According to the sources close to Hermione, it was because of Hermione's reckless use of the Memory Charm. It was said that she had obliviated herself after an irresponsible drinking on the night of their supposed anniversary, during the first year after Draco broke up with her.

To say that he was shocked was certainly an understatement. He didn't believe it, saying it was all bullshit. It actually made no sense at all. He knew he had hurt Hermione but she was never one to do such a thoughtless thing.

_But then again, she was drunk… _

His Hermione never really got drunk. She was always the sober one. Whenever he got carried away by his drinking, she was always the one who would ask him to stop. She was always the one who'd take care of him, plead him to go home and give apologies to the manager of the bar for his behavior of clumsily breaking some glasses. Hell, she'd even pay for it even if he didn't want her to. She'd take him out of his work clothes and just listen to his endless rambling about his shitty day. She was always the one who'd ask him to calm down, to face his problems in a more rational way. She'd kiss him even if he smelled of alcohol and cigarettes, which she hated so much.

No one could really calm him down. Not even his mother. It was always Hermione. She'd touch him and everything's suddenly bright and well. She'd kiss him and suddenly, he could smile.

She'd taken him to his deliverance.

She was his only sunlight. She was always so smart, _so strong_…

But then… there she was, brutally snatching her memories away to forget about him, to forget all the hurt he had caused her.

_What happened, Hermione? What have you done? Why? I'm an asshole. I'm not really worth it. Why did you do this to yourself? _

He didn't know she would even go this far. But then, maybe he had gone too far in hurting her… his beautiful, strong Hermione. He was an idiot.

Last night was pretty hard for him. He didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what to think of himself, of what he did, of the damage that it had caused her.

So he did what he does best. He dragged Blaise with him into this bar they'd often visit during weekends. He ended up getting drunk that he started on breaking some whiskey bottles, glasses… hell, even the bar's tables were all speckled helplessly into the floor by the time they were kicked out of the bar. Once outside, he started a bloody brawl. It was pretty nasty. And last thing he knew, he was in bed, at noon, groggily calling Hermione's name over and over again. He was crazy as shit.

"_You have got it bad, mate."_

He vaguely remembered Blaise chastising him. His best friend was also sporting some nasty bruises on his tanned, chiseled face; no doubt because of the brawl he'd started last night. But then the stupid git deserved it. He just wouldn't stop reminding him over and over again about how it was his entire fault when partly he had also had a part in it. Blaise was the one who took him at his Bachelor pad with those tempting devilish minxes two years ago.

Now he knew what it must feel like for people who hopelessly think of what ifs and maybes and if onlys…

He just really wished he would have had acknowledged it earlier.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Morgan," Hermione greeted pleasantly at the shopkeeper as she reached the bookshop's counter.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Granger." Mrs. Morgan smiled warmly at Hermione. "The new versions of 'Modern Magical History' and 'Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration' we reserved for you last month just arrived. I already have them packed for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Morgan. I've been waiting for them. And thank you so much for those books you offered to our charity auction. The bids were so high. They contributed well with the funds for the underprivileged dragon breeds in the mountains of Armenia. Hagrid is so pleased about it too." Hermione smiled gratefully at the book keeper.

"Oh dear, it's been a pleasure to help. I admire how you can be so dedicated in your program despite your work at the Ministry. Just keep it up. Oh, God bless you, child," Mrs. Morgan gushed at the younger lady as she smiled at her with wrinkly, welcoming eyes.

Draco smiled lovingly behind the corner where he was hiding. He remembered so well how Hermione had managed to persuade him in joining her little group called S.P.E.W. when they were still at Hogwarts. He didn't contribute much, but she was just so happy that her members were growing, even if there were only five of them, including Weaselbee, Potty and that Loony girl. But now, she had actually fulfilled her dreams. She'd always been so passionate about helping underprivileged magical creatures. She was still his beautiful, compassionate Hermione. This was just one of the reasons why he loved her.

"Oh, Mrs. Morgan, thank you for your kind words. But really, it just so happens that I have the power and influence to do so. I just got luckier and it's important for me to share the blessings that I have. And besides, Theo has done so much more than I have. He's just so amazing, you know, been working twice as hard as I am for these deprived creatures…"

Draco's smile dropped on the spot. In fact, he could swear his jaw could have had fallen into the floor if it wasn't for his hands covering his mouth to stifle a gasp and an unwanted colorful language to get out.

_That bootlicking son-of-a-bitch!_

"Oh yes, that fiancé of yours, such a fine young man he is." Mrs. Morgan beamed happily at Hermione as she handed her the paper bag that contained two of her ordered books.

"He is, isn't he?" Hermione blushed beautifully at the older woman. "He never misses any of the charity events I host. He's just so supportive of me in everything."

Draco frowned in consternation. Hermione had always asked him before to help with her charity works. He offered a great deal of his financial assistance of course, but he was rarely there during the actual functions. And apparently, Theo never missed any of it. Damn… and he thought he was already such a perfect boyfriend before. What the fuck was Theo playing at?

"Here," Hermione uttered as she placed a good sum of galleons on the counter for the books.

"Oh no, dear, they're already paid." Mrs. Morgan gave her crinkly smile at the younger woman before winking at her. "Mr. Nott was here earlier and I asked him to inform you that your reserved books are already available. He paid for them and told me he'd let you get them yourself, you know, just to surprise you."

"That sounds like Theo, alright," Hermione chuckled while shaking her head in amusement.

"You have a good man, Ms. Granger. I wish you two the best," Mrs. Morgan told Hermione as she beamed sweetly at her. Draco silently vowed never to buy any books from the stupid old woman. In fact, he might buy this ugly shop just so he could fire her.

"I have to go. We're having dinner with our friends and I need to go home and prepare. Thanks again, Mrs. Morgan," Hermione thanked the old lady before smiling kindly at her. She was sporting a very beautiful blush on her cheeks and Draco tried his hardest to ignore the reason why.

"Anytime, dear." Mrs. Morgan waved as she watched Hermione go. Draco followed her shortly, making sure to throw the old woman a scathing, contemptuous look before going out of the bookshop. There. She deserved that.

He followed Hermione along the streets as she toddled along the Hogsmeade grounds. She was friendly to people, smiling back at them as she walked past them. She was always friendly to people, anyway.

He remembered it as if it was only yesterday… the way she would smile lovingly at him, the way she'd frown at him whenever he was being snobbish and cruel to people and the way her little frown would vanish when he'd kiss her.

He'd always been the sinister one, but she loved him anyway. She was compassionate and kindhearted and beautiful. He loved her in every way that she was because he knew just how lucky he really was to have her love back. But then he didn't realize just what he really had before.

He hadn't taken her for granted, but he hadn't done enough as well.

Did he even tell her enough just how much he loved her? He knew that he didn't have to say it often to her because she already knew that he did anyway. But then again, she had been very vocal to him, telling him how much she loved him every moment she could. He recalled telling her he loved her in some instances, but not as often as she did to him. His answer would usually just be a kiss or so, always rationalizing the idea that actions speak louder than words.

But then, would she have liked it better if he told her that he loved her more often? Maybe he should have been more romantic, or maybe he should have attended those boring charity functions she hosted. He really thought that contributing large amounts of galleons for her charity was enough. She told him so. She would always tell him how much she appreciated his help whenever she'd kiss him goodbye as she left to attend those functions alone. But, what if she just told him that because she didn't want to bother him? What if she was just waiting for him to have the initiative to do so instead of pushing him to do it?

There were just so many things he had forgotten to say and do.

He assumed it was all enough for her, just like how he had assumed that she would be alright the time he left her. She was a strong woman, but he actually forgot that she's a girl as well. He'd been travelling the world, doing everything he wanted to do, enjoying different girls when she was here, all alone, crying and trying to obliviate herself from his memories. Thinking about it made him feel like the cruelest person in the world. But then again, maybe he was.

She had showed him so much, helped him in every way.

They were soul mates, she told him once.

She trusted him enough to let him go out that weekend with Blaise even if she knew just how much of a man-whore his best friend was. Before he went, she had kissed him and told him to have fun and that she loved him. He wasn't able to tell her that he loved her back because he was too busy being too excited for the weekend getaway.

She called him when he arrived at Blaise' bachelor pad but he ignored her calls, too drunk to call back and too busy snogging some random slut whose name he didn't even remember. He really thought it was okay that time, because the random girl didn't mean anything to him. He often prided himself in the fact that loyalty was better than faithfulness. Both values could have been synonymous but he knew there was a huge difference between the two.

In their years together, he had never cheated on Hermione. There might be some occasional harmless flirting here and there, but he never cheated. The night on Blaise's flat was a mistake. It was an act of injudiciousness and impulsiveness. He was too drunk to see any reason which was why it happened.

But that night also proved him that his nightmares might be true. He tried so hard to step away from his irresponsible life before for the sake of his love for Hermione but it seemed that he really couldn't do it. He couldn't forgive himself and he couldn't trust himself to not do it again which was part of the reasons why he decided to end it with her. He loved and respected her, and he'd rather lose her than lie to her and hurt her more. He knew he was one fucked-up mess.

At that time, he just felt like the most confused and conflicted man in the world and Hermione was just too innocent and pure to ever be tangled into his sullied issues.

He may be called a cheater the moment he shagged that unnamed girl. He may have been unfaithful that night, but he knew deep down, he was still loyal to her. He knew he loved and adored Hermione and he was loyal to that aspect. His devotion to her would never be in question. He had loved no one else before her and he knew that he would never love anyone else but her. He had vowed to himself to love her forever and he knew it would never, ever change. He cherished and treasured her no matter what and he knew that even if he was dallying around flirting with other girls, Hermione was the only girl who truly owned his heart.

He was also a man and he was weak. And at that time, he was too young to have learned the value of faithfulness. But he had always thought that it was alright because everything he had with those girls were all just passing fancies, anyway. They were nothing.

It was all physical.

He knew he'd been unfaithful to her but he had stayed loyal to her by his heart. No one had touched his heart but Hermione. He had kept it for her. It could only beat, breathe and function for _her _and not for anyone else. It made all the difference in the world for him.

Until now…

Maybe it's really true what people say, about only truly realizing the worth of something when it's finally gone. He had _never_ felt so low all his life.

He missed her… badly. He remembered the smell of her hair, of her skin as he'd slowly skim his nose and lips over every inch of her body. He remembered those beautiful halos of light dancing along her figure as she'd wake him up every morning. She had the most soothing voice, like a gentle lullaby at the brink of his consciousness. He loved the ticklish, softest feel of her curly mane tangled around his fingers. He loved staring at her, wearing his own oversized white shirt, knowing that she was his. He loved how soft her face could feel against his facial stubble whenever he'd forget to shave.

He loved her gentleness, her love, her affection.

He could have the shittiest day at work but whenever he'd go home, she would make him forget all about it. He loved her warmth on a rainy day, loved her playful giggles every time he'd tickle her, loved the way she'd circle her fingers on his chest on a lazy, cozy afternoon. He remembered the soft droplets on their skin as they made love under the cascading warm shower. She tasted of sweet ambrosia, of charming vanilla and roses… of Hermione.

She was, without a doubt, beauty in its entire splendor.

He'd been looking at her for so long that he didn't realize she was actually looking back at him now.

He almost stumbled down the alley. Suddenly, everything was switched into slow motion. She was standing by the side of Honeydukes candy shop; he was standing by the street across it. People from here and there were all busy scuttling around, going to their own destinations and distorting his gaze, like trees along the moving terrain during his travels.

But then, there _she_ was, standing and looking back at him.

He couldn't figure her emotions out. She looked scared, confused… terrified maybe? He didn't know.

Suddenly, she looked puzzled. She turned to look and check at the passing people behind her, frowning in confusion like she was thinking that he was looking at somebody else and not at her.

Why?

_Of course she'll think that you're looking at somebody else because she obviously doesn't recognize you, Draco. She took you away from her memories. She doesn't know you anymore. You're nothing to her anymore. _

His subconscious was trying to pierce him to death. The thought almost made him sick. He almost vomited on the street right then. It was too much. His heart was trying to pound out of his chest, crawling painfully up his throat.

And sure enough, she looked at him again. She nodded shyly and smiled an uncertain, courteous smile. It was a kind of smile only given to strangers. A polite and impassive smile, it was the only smile she could offer him now.

There was no hatred, no feelings, and no emotions… just a simple decorous smile.

_Because you are nothing to her now. You're just a stranger._

"H-Hermione," he breathed, unaware that his trembling hand had suddenly went towards his chest to splint the nagging ache that his ribcage was nursing inside.

And as if the pain wasn't enough, a tall, fine-looking man suddenly walked out of the store and mischievously covered Hermione's eyes from behind with his right hand, his left hand hiding something behind his back. Hermione gasped in initial shock and suddenly burst out laughing when she realized who it was.

It was Theodore Nott, her fiancé.

Theo laughed as he took his right hand away from her eyes. He scooped her waist to turn her around and brazenly kiss her in the middle of the crowded place. Hermione snaked her arms around his neck as they deepened the kiss, unaware of the stares from the people because of their obvious display of affection. Hermione giggled and kissed him again when he showed what he was hiding in his left hand. It was a beautiful bouquet of white flowers, with a decorative bag of Sugar Quills and Toffee Eclairs from Honeydukes.

They were Hermione's favorites. Draco knew, because he was the one who taught her how to love those sweets in the first place. Sugar Quills and Toffee Eclairs were _their_ thing. He bought her those sweets on their very first date at Hogsmeade. How could she let this guy just take it all away?

But then again, _she couldn't remember him anymore._

In that moment, when she was so close to him but so far away, he felt like he was coming undone. He was slipping away. He didn't know what to do. The pain was excruciating to even take hold of.

But of course she didn't understand. She just had no emotions to spare for him.

She didn't know. She would never know.

Because he was nothing to her now.

The pain of the realization pounded him to pieces. He felt sick to the core.

It would be better if she had run into him and slapped him in front of all those people. It would be better if she was angry at him. She could have just called him degrading names and he wouldn't care. It would be better if she hated him. But not _like this_. The hurt had doubled a thousand times. It was as if she had just killed him, right there. Maybe it was really better if she actually literally killed him. It would be better if she'd stab him nonstop. It would be better that she'd spit on him, or maybe tell him over and over again how much of a shit he was, but hell, _not like this_.

_Please…_

"Not like this, Hermione… please," he whispered, unaware of his goaded lacrimal glands. Fuck. These stupid dusts on the street were really starting to irritate his eyes.

Theo held her waist lovingly as she nibbled shyly on her Sugar Quill and inhaled the white roses he had given her. It was obvious that she was completely head-over-heels with him. It was all too much for Draco. He had never seen her like that, not even with Krum. She had always been his and he wasn't used to this. All her emotions, even hatred or hurt, were all meant for him _alone_ before.

"_Welcome home, baby." Hermione beamed lovingly at him as he entered the foyer. _

_It was a cloudy Sunday night. The stars were absent and the sky was too dark, it almost looked like an empty black hole. Hermione had cooked dinner for him, Spanakopita with feta cheese and scallops in a saffron beurre blanc served with white wine,_ _his favorites. _

_He didn't know what to think or feel about himself. It was a crazy weekend and he knew he had crossed the line this time. He was so fucked-up; he didn't even know what he wanted at the moment. He loved Hermione but he also wanted… more. Something his impossibly untamed, incorrigible self wanted. _

_He felt so dirty, so unworthy to even touch her. _

"_Is something wrong?" Hermione looked worried as she ran her soft hands along his hair. _

_He couldn't lie to her. He just couldn't. He loved her too much. He didn't even know why he was so unsure now. He didn't know why he had done it in the first place. Fuck, this was confusing. _

"_Hermione, I-I don't … I'm not sure about…" His words failed him. How the hell was he going to spill this out without hurting her?_

"_You're not sure about what, Draco?" She looked truly worried now, afraid even. He couldn't blame her. This scenario was too familiar to her. It was something that had happened before and the last time that it did, her heart had been seriously broken. _

"_Hermione, I care about you, you know that, but…"_

"_But what, Draco?" She was trembling now. Everything felt like déjà vu. It was painful to witness._

"_Hermione, we've been together for four years but… I just-I don't know. I want to be open to possibilities, you know. I mean, you know that I've never really been into exclusivity. You're the only girl I've ever had a long-term relationship with and I think it's been… too long and for years, we haven't really seen other people to explore and—"_

"_Just state your point, Draco," she whispered hoarsely. She was starting to shake now and he wanted so much to hold her, but he wasn't sure if she would let him. _

"_I-I think we should try to see other people," Draco told her quietly. How could he do this? How could he even say this? But he was just scared to death. He didn't know what to do. If he kept on being with her, the fleeting lack of discretion he did this weekend would most likely happen again and it would just destroy her in the long run. He just couldn't do that to her. She was too good for a bastard like he was. He didn't trust himself anymore. He was just too fucked-up to be with her._

"_Y-You're breaking up with me?" Hermione mouthed the words too quietly, he barely heard it. She was visibly shaking now and her eyes were starting to shed helpless, painful tears. _

"_Hermione, you don't understand. It's for the both of us, too. I just want, I just—" he breathed hard as he ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "I just want us to search out our options, you know. Think of this as an enriching experience, something we can grow upon. We both can see other people and test it all out, you know… see if it works out. If it doesn't work out, then we'll go back and keep hold of this relationship." Bloody hell, he sounded like a jerk. _

"_What the hell are you playing at, Draco? What do you think of me? Some crap you can recycle when you're done with destroying all your toys?" she cried, staring heatedly at him. "Who do you think you are? Do you even hear yourself? Do you even—"_

"_I cheated on you!" He was mortified of himself. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. He looked down and waited for her slap, because he knew he deserved it. But it never came. _

_He was just confronted by the deafening silence. He didn't know it could be more painful than the slap. _

"_When?" Her tone was flat. She was trying to hide her hurt. She was trying to be strong again even if she couldn't this time._

"_This weekend. Blaise brought some girls. I got drunk, Hermione." He pursed his lips, looking shameful more than ever. He couldn't continue to explain. He'd never hated himself more than he did at that moment._

"_Why?"Hermione whispered, wide-eyed and heartbroken. Her tears were nonstop. They were now falling helplessly on her flushing cheeks. Even in her sorrow, she was so beautiful. And she was so small, so vulnerable, so hurt… He wanted to stab himself in that moment just to make it at least fair. "Why, Draco?"_

"_Hermione, I…"His tongue was tied. Why, really? He didn't even know. He was a mess. He frankly didn't know what he wanted. She didn't deserve all this shit from him. She was just so innocent and sweet and genuine. He didn't deserve this girl at all. Why wasn't she hurting him? He was so ready for her slap. He deserved it more than anything. Why couldn't she just scream at him and tell him how useless he was? _

"_Why, Draco? Am I… Am I boring you?" Her voice was filled with fear. This just killed him. How could she even think that way? This was his fault, dammit! _

"_No, Hermione! You've been perfect. Please don't think that way."_

"_Then why? Am I not enough for you? Am I suffocating you? I've never really asked you to stop doing the things you wanted to do. I tried my hardest to support you. Isn't it enough? This is not about my friends, right? You've been conciliatory with each other. Harry and Ron are—" _

"_Hermione, you don't understand. It's not about you or your friends, it's about—"_

"_You? It's always about you, isn't it?" She looked angry once again as she looked at him intently. "You promised me you'd never do this again, Draco," her tone was accusatory, but he couldn't blame her._

"_Please, Hermione. I just…"_

"_How can you do this to me? Twice!" She was crying nonstop now that she appeared out of breath. She was clutching her chest with her hand, an act of protecting herself from the pain she was feeling. "I love you, Draco. I have always loved you, but why do you keep hurting me? I've never done anything to give you a reason not to trust me. I've tried my hardest to prove to you just how much I value you! All I ever asked of you is to take care of that! All I'm asking is for you to stop hurting me over and over again!"_

"_Hermione, baby, please," he started to step closer to hold her but she pushed him away._

"_Don't touch me!" Hermione was sobbing loudly, she could hardly breathe. He wanted to do something, to make her understand. But it was all too late. He had hurt her again. _

_He watched as she ran into their bedroom and collected her things. Hermione __left the Manor immediately and he quietly sat on__the couch, drinking his whiskey as he watched her go. He didn't know what to do. What else could he do, really? He had fucked everything up. Things were said and done and he couldn't get them back anymore. _

"_L-Let me help you with that," he stammered as he stood up and helped her with her things by the doorway._

"_No. I can manage," Hermione croaked, trying her best to look stronger than she was at the moment. She always did that. Looking strong and impervious was her defense in everything, even if deep down, he knew she was breaking. _

"_Hermione, I'm sorry." He didn't even know what to say anymore. It was the most obvious thing to say. What could he say more, really?_

_She smiled a sad smile and it was something that Draco would never really forget forever. __She willed herself to look up at him, still with tears in her eyes._

"_I hope you'll see what you're looking for. Because by the time you'll see me walk out of this door, Draco, you're permanently out of my life."_

Those words.

He hadn't fully realized the extent of it. Until now…

"H-Hermione," he whispered disbelievingly as he stood there, watching her walk away from him, watching her walk away with the new love of her life.

She was permanently out of his life, but she took with her what he was really looking for.

His heart.

* * *

**Song for this chapter is dedicated to Draco and to all the hopeless guys who can't face their own demons:**

"**Face Down" (acoustic version) by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus**

**(Chorus)  
**_  
__**Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?  
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?  
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end  
As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.**_

_**Face down in the dirt she said, this doesn't hurt she said I finally had enough.**__**One day she will tell you that she has had enough, it's coming round again.**_

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hugs and kisses to my beta reader: ****EchoDeltaNine! **

**I'm so sorry for the super late update! I'll try to update more often to make amends with you, yeah? :)**

**To those who are asking: NO, this is not going to be like the Filipino romantic/comedy movie "My Amnesia Girl". I only got the inspiration of Hermione making Draco believe that she forgot about him, but that is all. And that's the only similarity it will ever get. The flow of the story and the plot is mine. So no, this is not going to be in any way like the movie or how it ends. I love that film though. :)**

**I have thought really long about Hermione's fiancé and even did a research to get the perfect guy, and it really should have been Anthony Goldstein. He's an open-minded pureblood, from Ravenclaw (Hermione's compatible partner when it comes to brains) and was a Prefect (responsible like Hermione). I was also trying to get away from any Slytherin because Hermione's infamous ex, Draco, was one. Hands down, Anthony was perfect for the character.**

**BUT then, there's Theo… I think my irrational self is in love with him. Haha. So I don't know what came over me as I tossed all my research away and just got Theo for the role because, urggh, he's perfect! So yeah, I was pretty much biased because my phantom Theo was screaming inside my head, coaxing me to give him another chance on our lovely Hermione. My phantom Draco is actually pissed with me, but he can't do much about it. Haha. So yeah, it's Theo versus Draco once again. Honestly, what's up with those Slytherins? Oh, life is beautiful. Haha.**

**Have a lovely, blessed day!**

**Sue**


	3. Will You Dry My Tears?

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own any Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter world. They all belong to JK Rowling.**

**Chapter Three**

"**Will You Dry My Tears?"**

It was a rainy Friday night, the start of the weekend once again. Hermione was smiling as she entered the building's lift going to her fiancé's apartment suite.

There was a time when Hermione hated weekends beyond all else, but now she could safely declare that the period from Friday evening through Sunday evening was her favorite time of the week. It was her reprieve from all the nonstop work especially since her department was considered the largest department in the Ministry of Magic and all the other departments were answerable to it.

As a Department Head of her sector, she had the responsibility to make sure everything was in order among the divisions under her. Despite being the youngest in the position, she was well trusted by her staff and she had worked her arse off to maintain that trust.

Sometimes she wondered why she even accepted the job offered to her in the first place when she was very much contented with her position as a Senior Personnel in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; however, she knew that it was because of her passion for her goals to help the underprivileged magical creatures in her former department. She realized that by being the Department Head of the Magical Law Enforcement, she would be able to extend more tangible and corporeal help to those Magical Creatures by revolutionizing the Ministry.

Her friends thought her goals were much too ambitious.

As the head of the Auror office, Harry had promised to support her in everything she did; though she knew that deep down, he thought her goals were not that viable in some way. He said her undertakings were too ambitious to be placed into action in the near future. Nevertheless, as pushy as she may sound, Hermione had promised never to give up. She knew that she could make a change even with these baby steps, and she had already gone a long way.

She had worked so hard to attain this position and she was confident enough that her plans would be executed someday. She had the brains, the will, the capacity… She was competent enough and she knew that if she pushed through, she could do it. What was the use of all her studying from night till dawn in the library during her Hogwarts days? She knew that she had toiled for a reason.

She was just thankful that she had the most understanding and supportive fiancé in the world.

The thought of Theo had always made her smile. In everything she had done for the past two years, from her bereavement to her healing, Theo had been there for her. He became a good friend and he didn't rush her. He had supported her and had patiently waited for her for almost a year. Sometimes, she really couldn't help but think of him as her angel.

She had known him at school, but they met again in the Auror headquarters on Level Two of the Ministry of Magic at Harry's office cubicle.

It was Friday in the evening, and she had been a wreck…

_She was always a wreck during the weekends._

_It was, after all, the time when Draco had gone off to Blaise's bachelor pad to cheat on her. Nobody really knew the length of the damage Draco had done to her. She often prided the fact that she was a strong woman, but it was more than she could handle. She even needed to see a psychiatrist to alleviate the pain of the aftershock._

_Whenever it was the weekend, there was this nagging fear that someone she loved would do something to betray or hurt her. It was irrational and unfounded. She thought she was losing her mind. Her psychiatrist told her that her fear of the weekend had stemmed out from the psychological trauma she had to endure after the huge breakup she had emotionally suffered from._

_Draco was the very first boy she had fallen in love with and the very first to have broken her heart over and over again. She had somehow loved Viktor during their time together, but not in the way she loved Draco._

_**It had always been different with Draco.**_

_She had loved him more than she had ever loved anyone. She had given up her pretty cottage house so she could be with him in his manor because he had wanted her to. She had ditched some of her friends on their prior arrangements sometimes just so she could spend time with him. Even if wearing those expensive clothes he bought for her made her uncomfortable, she'd still put them on just to please him._

_Her world revolved around him._

_She had given him everything she could possibly give to another being; her heart, her innocence, her body, her mind, her time… Hell, she would have given him her soul if he had asked her to._

_She had given him __**everything**__._

_Ginny told her it was just probably because he was her first, the very first to have ever touched her, the very first she had ever loved. Ginny said that a girl would never really forget her first love no matter what, but then again, Ginny's first love was Harry and they were together until now._

_It just wasn't fair sometimes._

_It had been four months since Draco had left her and every weekend she had stayed at Harry and Ginny's apartment; knowing that the last time she had spent the weekend alone, Ginny had found her sprawled on her living room's floor with a bottle of Ogden's whiskey on hand, insanely drunk and about to obliviate herself. Ginny had needed to wrestle her to take her wand away._

_She had cried nonstop that day. She was hysterical. Her friends didn't know what to do so they resorted on calling her parents instead. She was reduced into a wretched, pitiable little girl needing her parents to make everything okay again. She looked pathetic but she didn't care; because she knew she needed them, because she knew she would never ever be okay again, because she knew she had nothing anymore. That day, she had allowed her parents to take her to their home. She had allowed her daddy to kiss her hair like his baby girl once again when she cried and told him how broken her heart was. She had the chicken soup her mum cooked for her. It always made her feel better. She had allowed herself to sleep in her childhood room again, crying and squishing old Mr. Panda Bear into her chest as her mummy held her like a little girl once more._

_Since then, Ginny wouldn't let her out of her sight when the weekend started. Every Friday, Ginny would get out early from work just to fetch her from her office. Ginny and Harry insisted Hermione stayed with them every Friday night, then they would do things to distract her during the course of the weekend. If Harry and Ginny were busy, Luna and Parvati would be there. If Ron was in the country, he would often take her out to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley for friendly dinner dates. She had such caring and thoughtful friends and she couldn't complain. She was lucky to have them._

_Harry was working late and Ginny had an overdue emergency meeting in her department. Hermione told them that she could go ahead to their home to wait for them. But both Harry and Ginny wouldn't let her, nervously shaking their heads in unison. It was pretty alarming._

_Did they think that she had completely lost it?_

_But then again, she'd tried to obliviate herself many times already. Maybe she was really losing it. Her friends knew that she was an expert on the Memory Charm. She had used it against certain Death Eaters during the war. It also became handy during the time she was in desperate need to protect her parents by sending them to Australia._

_However, deep down she knew she could never really do it to herself. She knew she was responsible enough never to inflict such an unwanted feat on herself. It wasn't in her character to do such a reckless and stupid thing. But sometimes, her emotions could prove her otherwise. Maybe it's true that your heart could really dictate you to do the stupidest thing in the world. It could totally shut your brain out. She wasn't thinking when she got drunk that night, but you couldn't really think straight when your heart hurt like hell, could you?_

_Since then, her crazy self had been constantly trying to consider the thoughtless act every time she got in contact with alcohol. It was the only way she could forget of Draco. She'd always been sober before, but drinking seemed to be the only thing she could think of in numbing the hurt. That was when she realized she needed to see a psychiatrist. It helped a lot. Now she was feeling better. She was still wounded, but she was coping. She would try her hardest to crawl back to who she was before the storm, to who she was before she was broken._

_She was Hermione Granger, dammit._

_She wouldn't allow herself to always be the damsel in distress. Her prince just turned out to be an evil enemy and she needed to stand up for herself now. She was raised that way. She was tough. She was a strong woman. She wasn't considered one of the war heroes for nothing._

_But she was just a girl as well._

_She had cried so much, had questioned her inadequacy. Draco often told her she was beautiful, that she was perfect, but that actually doubled the hurt. If she was as perfect as he said she was, why would he leave her? He had spent years trying to regain her trust and to rebuild her confidence, only to break them again… like she was nothing but a plaything. He made her the happiest. He planted himself as the center of her universe only to walk away and let everything crumble into nothingness. How could he be so cruel?_

_Now she was left to pick up the pieces once again. He was her curse and he just killed her. And she'd never felt as low and as stupid as this._

_Harry and Ginny made sure she would stay and wait for them here before going on with their unfinished businesses. She knew that her friends were just looking out for her, but they were really going overboard this time. Well, not that she could blame them, of course._

_Every Friday night, the three of them would watch movies. If Ron was around, he would come and join them as well. Ron was now a professional Chaser for the Chudley Canons in the British and Irish Quidditch League and was constantly travelling the world. He was now dating a beautiful Irish woman as well._

_Sometimes Hermione would wonder what could have been if Draco hadn't come into her life. Ron had always fancied her before and had been incredibly angry when he'd found out about her relationship with Draco at Hogwarts. Since then, Ron had stopped whatever feeling that was blooming for her._

_When Draco broke up with her, they regained their friendship and Ron had always been supportive of her, but he didn't make any move and had stayed as a good friend and nothing more. He'd even been conciliatory when she and Draco became a couple again years after that. Ginny told her it was because she was Ron's first heartbreak and he was afraid to dig those feelings up again and so he decided that it was best to just forget about it, until a day came that it was finally gone._

_Hermione had had a little crush on Ron when they were younger and if Draco hadn't been in the picture, maybe they would have worked out like Harry and Ginny did. Viktor was a good boyfriend before even if he was constantly out of the country. He had always made sure that he had enough time for her. If Draco hadn't come back and ransacked their relationship, maybe she could have married Viktor and lived a happy, peaceful life._

_Now, Ron was happy with someone else. Harry and Ginny had each other. Even Viktor was engaged to someone else now, a slender beautiful blonde graduate from Beauxbatons. And she was left with nothing but a severely broken heart and an uncanny, irrational fear of the weekends._

_All because of Draco Bloody Malfoy. The bastard._

_Draco had taken everything away from her. She had given him so much. She had given him everything that she had and maybe that was partly her fault. She should have known better. This wasn't the first time that Draco had hurt her. He had hurt her before and she hadn't learned from it. He made her look like she was the dumbest girl in the world. But then, she was in love. It wasn't a choice at all. He had her wrapped around his slender-and-overly-sexy fingers. And damn, how stupid she had been._

_She chewed on her lower lip as she impatiently looked around. The Auror headquarters was a busy place. It consisted of a series of open cubicles, each Auror being given his or her place to work. She was seated on Harry's chair, edgily twiddling some of his quills between her fingers and demurely tugging on her pencil skirt which looked a little skimpy in her current sitting position. She was out of place. She felt too… feminine. Every male Auror who happened to pass by Harry's cubicle would stare and smile at her. A brawny young Auror even had the gall to whistle and stare at her legs. He ended up being whacked by a hardbound book by another female Auror, who happened to be his girlfriend as he then had kissed her ruefully after that. The female Auror smiled apologetically at Hermione as she dragged her pussy whipped boyfriend away. It was amusing to watch._

_There were a lot of pictures of Undesirables, maps and newspaper clippings on the walls of the cubicles. Harry's desk was a bit of a chaos and her hands were itching to clean it up. She tried her hardest to stop herself from doing so since she knew that this was Harry's desk and she might disrupt or misplace something if she did so. She could see that the other desks were a mess as well. Maybe Aurors worked that way._

_Instead, she entertained herself by watching some of the pictures on the frames that Harry had placed by the side of his desk. There was one with her, Ron and Harry during their Hogwarts years. Oh, how she missed those days._

_There was another with her, Ginny, Ron and Harry. She was laughing with her best friends at the camera. She looked so happy that time. She smiled a bit, until she remembered the person who was taking the picture._

_It was taken on her birthday. Draco had planned everything to give her a grand surprise party. How he managed to work things out with her workmates, family and best friends especially with Ron, was beyond her. All she knew was… she was the happiest then._

_Until now she could still remember his cheery voice, urging her to look at the camera. That time, she just knew that he was the best boyfriend in the world. There were some imperfections, like the fact that he hated going to her charity events or that sometimes he could be very moody. But he was still the sweetest._

_Draco loved and protected her in every way he could. He worshiped her beauty, treated her like she was the most beautiful woman on earth, bought her everything she could possibly imagine and he could do things so unexpectedly that often ended up with her crying in happiness._

_Even now, the memory of it still stung._

_Hermione could feel her eyes water again as she stared at the picture. She hated it. After four months, here she was, still pathetically mourning for an offense she hadn't done. Yet, she just couldn't take her eyes away from the photograph, at the time when everything was perfect._

_Everything was just so bittersweet…_

_It was a picture of a perfect time, a time when she thought she was so sure of what her future would be, a time when she thought nothing could ever go wrong. For all it's worth, it was a beautiful picture._

_Despite the heartache and the memories, Harry must have placed it here because it was a pretty good picture. He may have even forgotten that Draco was the one who took it. He wasn't broken like her, after all. Harry had a lot of complications in his life but had it smooth when it came to love. He and Ginny were so simple, so happy, so content. He couldn't really understand the depths of what she was feeling at the moment._

_There was one picture of Harry and Ginny by the middle of his desk. It was taken in their living room. They looked so good together. There was also a solo picture of Ginny. She was smiling shyly at the camera. It was taken at an Auror yule party and she looked beautiful._

_Hermione had seen her own pictures in Draco's office before too. There was even a huge canvas of her in the middle of his office. He often told her that those pictures of her always made him forget his problems at work. He said that her smile alone could soothe and relax him. Now she wondered what he did to them. Maybe he threw them away, or maybe he burned them just like she did with his pictures. But then again, he wasn't as hurt as she had been and those dramatic flairs weren't really necessary for him._

_She was pathetic. Miserable and pathetic._

_She sighed and shook her head. Four months and she was still losing it. Everything seemed to be connected to him. How long would she suffer like this? Everything that had happened felt like it was yesterday. Urgh. She really hated the weekends. She wished it was Monday every day. She was a mess._

"_Give me a break," she suddenly whispered disbelievingly as she noticed the discarded copy of the Daily Prophet inside Harry's dustbin. It was hastily crumpled but the name 'Draco Malfoy' by the headlines could still be seen from her point of view while seated on Harry's chair._

_Harry must have hurriedly thrown it away before she could see it. She tried to steady her breathing as she reached for the rutted newspaper. She didn't want to know the contents of it. She didn't want to know what the bastard was doing now. But she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully without knowing._

_She was a very curious girl and sometimes, she was just so sure her curiosity could be the cause of her death someday._

_She breathed hard; in and out, in and out… before she opened her eyes and read the article._

'_**Draco Malfoy, the Red Lover.'**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

'_**Draco Malfoy, owner and Managing Director of Malfoy Inc. and one of the hottest and youngest business tycoons today, was seen enjoying Santorini's Red Beach with a hot girl clad in red bikini bottoms. The beautiful beach in the Akrotiri area in Greece gave off its majestic setting as the two lovers were shot engaging in some serious make out sessions.'**_

'_**After his infamous break-up with his long-time girlfriend of four years and renowned war heroine, Hermione Granger, the gorgeous business man seems to have moved on quite easily with his newest beau as they occupied themselves in an intense public display of affection, as seen in the photos below. Seems like Mr. Malfoy got bored of his old relationship with Ms. Granger and…'**_

_She had to stop reading. She had to literally push the newspaper onto the desk so she couldn't see the asshole's pictures with his new bitch._

_Her eyes hurt a bit, must be from the dust on the newspaper since it was from the trash. She refused to believe that it had to do with something else._

"_Such a jerk, isn't he?"_

_She frowned and looked up. Beside Harry's partially enclosed workspace was a tall, handsome young Auror, poking his head out from his own cubicle. He had messy jet-black hair like Harry's and beautiful amber eyes with a russet, coppery tint in them. He was on the leaner side but had a strong, athletic build. He somehow looked familiar as well._

"_I read that crap a while ago. Malfoy's such a git," he sniffed. The young Auror was smiling as he walked out of his cubicle to stand beside her, examining the newspaper in disgust._

"_Yeah, I want to kill him." Hermione never thought she would sound that vengeful. It almost sounded like she meant it, well, not that it was unlikely._

"_Don't worry. I won't arrest you if you do. Pretty sure everyone is going to be in your favor anyway. I'm an Auror, Potter's the Head Auror, while Malfoy's a jerk." He smirked while shrugging casually. He sipped on his coffee while leaning on the cubicle's partition, studying her._

_Hermione giggled softly at his joke as she stared at him. He exuded confidence and good humor. She realized she hadn't giggled like this for so long. It was spontaneous. That was nice. She instantly liked him._

_She just had to figure out when and where she had seen him. He looked so familiar but she couldn't quite place her finger on it._

_As if reading her thoughts, the guy placed his coffee on Harry's desk and extended his hand toward her. "Theodore Nott, we were classmates at Hogwarts."_

"_Oh, yeah." Hermione smiled, nodding in recognition. She remembered they'd always been partnered in Potions before. It was Draco's favorite subject and… urgh! Draco. Again. Get a grip, Hermione._

"_It's nice to meet you again, Nott. I didn't know you work with Harry," she greeted while shaking his hand. She stared at him further and realized why she hadn't quickly recognized him. Nott had always been tall before, but he was a bit weedy as well. He was a loner and though he had a mature build, he often looked pale and sickly. Yet, now here he was. Gone was the skinny boy with a bit of a weak and gaunt appearance. He was strapping and muscular now, not to mention __**really **__gorgeous._

"_Aw come on, still my surname?" he quipped while faking a disappointed expression. "We're not at school now, you know. It would be nice if you call me Theo."_

"_Theo," she echoed as she smiled and nodded._

"_Ah, a pretty lady calling me by my first name at the start of my weekend, I'm in luck," he chuckled. This made her blush. "So, where were we? Oh yeah, we're on your modus operandi of killing Draco Malfoy."_

"_You know, if you keep that up I might actually do it and you could be an accomplice to the crime," Hermione joked._

"_Nah, I'm an Auror. I know my ways," he blurted out playfully, which made Hermione laugh while shaking her head in amusement._

_They stayed quiet for a while, until Hermione had to awkwardly look away when she noticed him staring at her rather intensely. He wasn't looking away and was just… staring._

"_You're even more beautiful than I remember," he suddenly told her softly, still not taking his eyes off her._

_She could feel her face heating up. She knew she was clearly blushing and she was embarrassed for doing so._

"_Maybe we can discuss the murder on Draco Malfoy over dinner or something," he swiftly added, now smiling playfully at her with his comfortable quality back._

_Hermione looked up at him in surprise, tilting her head to study his confident expression. Did she hear it right? Was he asking her for a date?_

_He smirked, walking over to Harry's desk and boldly seized the newspaper. He casually crumpled it and threw it into the dustbin where it had been a while ago._

_He was gently smiling as she turned to look at him. "Yes," he admitted as if he could read her mind. "I am asking you for a date, if you're alright with it."_

_She felt her lips quirk up into a gentle smile._

_That night, for the first time in four months, Harry and Ginny finally had their time alone together on a Friday night._

Hermione's musings were interrupted when she reached Theo's apartment suite. The lift slid open to reveal the grand foyer.

Theo's muggle flat was urban and very modern. The ambiance was serene and calm, with black marble bench tops, glistening floors and large sliding doors. It was luxurious and fashionable but _very _unadorned and masculine. Hermione's garden plants by the terrace were the only indication of femininity in the place.

"Good evening, Ms. Hermione," a lady in her late forties greeted her as she took her shopping bags. Hermione smiled at old, sweet Aretha, Theo's trusted private housekeeper.

Hermione loved Theo's place. It felt like home to her and she could go in and out whenever she wanted. Theo had asked her over and over again to permanently stay with him in his apartment, even to the point of pleading her and publicly expressing his wish on random occasions during their dinner with friends or dining out by the muggle city with her parents, just to get her to say yes.

Yet, Hermione was so adamant of her decision of not leaving her simple cottage home at Wimbledon village. She had left her past home once, in order to stay with Draco at his Manor and it didn't do her any good. Besides, she loved her home. It may not be as sophisticated and contemporary as Theo's flat but it was what she loved the most about it.

Hermione had always been all about simplicity and she loved that her home and village elicited that virtue as well. She loved strolling around her village with its modish shops and cafes, with period buildings and spacious lanes. She lived in a classic English country cottage surrounded by beautiful trailing roses and pastel perennials along the brick paths. Typical colorful butterflies and bumblebees were seen roaming around the beautiful place. She loved her garden. She loved taking care of it during her free time. Narcissa once told her that she had a green thumb and she had spent four years with the older lady beautifying the Malfoy Manor garden during some of her free time before.

She loved Narcissa Malfoy like her own mother. Sadly everything had to end when Draco broke her heart. She couldn't face the older lady anymore. She'd been too hurt and she just couldn't look back at anyone or anything that reminded her of Draco. Sometimes, during her quiet moments, her mind would wander back to the beautiful flowers in the Malfoy garden that she and Narcissa had cultivated. She wondered what had happened to the garden now. She hoped Narcissa hadn't taken it for granted now that she wasn't around to help her.

"Master Theo isn't around yet. Did he tell you he's coming home late, dear?" the older lady asked as they both headed towards the kitchen to prepare the things Hermione had bought for dinner.

"Yes he did. He sent me an owl a while ago. They are working on a late case," Hermione proclaimed before she left the older lady to go to the master bedroom, casually shrugging her work clothes off to enjoy the nice, warm bath prepared for her.

After a relaxing bath, she placed her hair into a messy bun and put on Theo's oversized white shirt. She had her own clothes and dresses in Theo's walk-in closet but he preferred her wearing his own clothes as he told her that he found it sexy. She loved pleasing him and besides, she liked wearing them as they were just so comfortable.

She then hurriedly went back into the kitchen to start cooking. It was customary that every Friday night, Hermione would cook dinner for Theo. Aretha was an exemplary cook, but Theo always pointed out that he loved it when Hermione cooked for him. It wasn't just the food; it was the act that made it special for him.

Her weekends were often reserved for Theo alone. Even if he told her that he respected her decision for not moving in with him, Hermione knew that Theo was really sad and frustrated about it. So as her compromise for not permanently staying in his apartment, she made it a habit to stay during the weekends just to appease him. It seemed to make him happier. He said he always loved it when he'd wake up in the morning and she was there beside him. He was just so sweet and precious like that.

"What are we making now, Ms. Hermione?" Aretha inquired.

"I'm thinking beef wellington," Hermione replied as she casually sat on one of the bar stools in the large, luxurious kitchen island.

"Excellent choice, Ms. Hermione," Aretha cheerily commented as she took out some butter, large sprig fresh thyme, eggs, slices of prosciutto, chestnut mushrooms, puff pastries, beef fillet and a bottle of dry white wine from the paper bags. Hermione was always in charge whenever she was around.

Aretha was very fond of the couple. She had been working for Theo for years now and treated him like her very own son. She was a pureblood Squib who lived in the muggle world until Theo came by to help her. She was banished by her own family in an attempt to save their untainted pureblood name. She was hidden in her family's manor house until she decided to run away into the muggle world at the age of forty. Because she had grown up and was imprisoned into the Wizarding world all her life, she didn't fit well with the muggle world, thus she lived a very isolated life by the country.

Without Theo, she'd have probably died of hunger as no one really accepted her in the muggle world thinking that she was an evil hag and that she was dangerous. After the Second Wizarding War, Theo had decided to vacate his late father's manor house that was given to him since it held a lot of painful memories. During his Auror training, he met and befriended a lot of muggleborns and halfbloods. Through them, he had become fascinated by the muggle world itself. With the absence of his pureblood father, it was all so new and exciting to him. By then, he had decided to live in the muggle world to venture it out. That was when he met Aretha.

Hermione would often smile when she looked at the older woman. She was just one of the many people her fiancé had helped out. Theo was a good man. She was lucky to have him.

As if on cue, the door by the foyer finally slid open as her gorgeous fiancé entered, looking a bit fatigued from work. He was dashing in his business suit, loosening his tie to take his coat off and carelessly tossing it into the rack. His hair was a bit tousled as he absentmindedly slumped into the huge sofa, sighing and reclining his head into the headrest.

Like a little girl, Hermione jumped from the bar stool to rush into the foyer to welcome him. When he saw her standing there barefooted and wearing his oversized white tee, his face broke into a breathtaking, boyish smile.

"_Fuck_, I love Friday nights." He grinned as he opened his arms for her, obviously forgetting about his grueling overtime at work.

"Hi Auror," she greeted as she leaped onto him to sit on his lap, running her dainty hands on his unruly hair. "How was your day?"

"It was hell," he snorted. "But I'm obviously okay now that my sexy fiancée is here," he added as he kissed her, moaning in pleasure as Hermione straddled him to kiss him back as passionately; her shirt inching upwards as his hands caressed her bare legs.

This was what she loved about Theo. He wasn't demanding when it came to her time but he appreciated her in every way he could. He was always so calm and controlled even if he had a terrible day at work. He would always place her first before anything else. They were both lost in the moment for a while, not even the soft clatters from the kitchen could stop their heated snogging session.

When they broke their kiss, however, Theo seemed to stare at her in deep thought. Hermione frowned at him but he just shook his head, smiled and kissed her again.

"I love you," he whispered breathlessly while tucking a stray curl away from her face. He suddenly looked so serious. He was looking at her as if he was trying to decipher her. She realized he was frowning as if something was worrying him. He looked as if… he was waiting for her to tell him something.

"Theo? What's wrong?" she prodded worriedly, kissing his chin. They'd only been together for almost a year but she knew when there was something bothering him.

"Do you love me back?" He sounded playful again, but there was a crack in his voice. He sounded a bit disappointed and… sad.

"What kind of a question is that? O-Of course, Theo. Are you alright? Did something happen at work?" Hermione frowned, gently stroking his nape in a soothing manner. She did love him back, but she always wondered why she couldn't say the actual words out loud. "Do you need a massage?" she asked, trying to bring the lighter mood back.

Theo just sighed and shook his head. He gently led her to stand from the sofa before kissing her hair and walking straight to the kitchen. They held hands as they ambled towards the large kitchen island. Aretha was there, chopping some chestnut mushrooms as finely as possible for Hermione's unfinished dish.

"Aretha and I will be making beef wellington for dinner. I thought you'd be coming very late so we weren't able to prepare earlier," Hermione told him, trying to lighten up the mood. He still wasn't letting go of her hand and she squeezed his hand gently. She knew something was bothering him.

"Good evening, Master Theo," the older lady politely greeted him, unaware of the sudden tension in the room.

"Good evening, Aretha." Theo smiled at his housekeeper as he greeted her back. "Will you excuse us for a moment? I just have something to ask my fiancée."

"Of course, Master." Aretha bowed before scurrying off to her room, giving the couple the privacy they needed.

Hermione gulped as she looked up at Theo. She knew something was really wrong.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked him when Aretha was gone.

He sighed once more as he ran his hands through his hair, "I just want… I just want us to be honest with each other, you know. I know that we are and I'm confident in that. I just want to know if there is something you need to tell me."

"What do I need to tell you?" She frowned. Okay, she was completely lost now. What the hell was he talking about?

"I didn't bring it up last night because we had dinner with Harry and the others and I understand if you didn't want to talk about it then, but what about now? Don't you think I need to know as well?" he asked her gently. Too gently. She was nervous now.

"Theo?" She was still clueless.

"Do you want to tell me something about your little tryst with Draco Malfoy at Harry and Ginny's villa? Or… hmm, let's see, what about your fake amnesia?" He looked calm as he poured some wine on the two glasses by the counter, like what he was asking was nothing; even if the hurt on his face was visibly apparent.

Hermione almost stopped breathing when she heard him. Oh. That.

"Who told you?" she whispered breathlessly. She asked her friends not to speak about it to Theo. It wasn't that she was keeping secrets from him. It was just that she didn't want him to get hurt. He knew her history with Draco and she didn't think it was necessary to bring him to this as well. It wasn't that important. Draco's not that important to her now, anyway, right? _Right?_ Oh crap.

"I overheard Ginny and Luna talking about it at our dinner last night. When were you going to tell me? Or are you even going to tell me?" He sounded really hurt this time. She hated herself at the moment. Theo had been nothing but honest and good to her.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione pleaded as she embraced him tightly. She hated it when she disappointed him. Her broken self was scared he would leave her like Draco did. She was always so scared someone would leave her again. She was always so scared to be alone again. She was scared of everything. "Please don't be angry."

Theo sighed and tenderly locked her in his arms. "I'm not angry," he whispered as he kissed her hair. Whenever she was scared, he could always make her feel like she was protected. Theo knew about her insecurities and fears. He was the one who had helped her through it in the first place. She just felt so safe with this man, she couldn't ask for more. What the hell was wrong with her now?

"I'm sorry," she muttered when they broke their embrace. She hated Draco for doing this to her. She wouldn't allow him to come between her and Theo.

"Hermione, I'm your fiancé. What you do concerns me too. I just want us to be open with each other," Theo explained as he cupped her cheeks gently.

"We are open with each other, Theo. It's just-it's just that-" she stammered. She couldn't even finish a damn sentence now.

"It's just because it's Draco Malfoy," he finished for her.

She opened her mouth to disagree but realized just how true that statement was.

Yes, it was just because it was Draco Malfoy. _It had always been Draco Malfoy._

That git was the constant barb around her heart, and she just couldn't seem to shake him off there. She had given Draco all of her before and the problem was, until now, she hadn't taken herself back from him. He still owned her, somehow. She hated him for all he was worth but the fact still remained that she just, for the life of her, couldn't let go.

She couldn't let him go. She just didn't know how to. She was trying really hard and everything was going smoothly. She was getting there… until he ruined it again by coming back.

"You know the amount of damage he caused me, Theo," she whispered as she looked up at him.

"And now he's back from wherever place he's been," Theo stated evenly, though he looked… worried? Disturbed? Scared? Oh, Theo. It hurt her to see him like this.

He sighed again and walked over to one of the bar stools at their kitchen. He sat on one of the stools, running his hands anxiously through his hair and looking sullen, like the day that he had dreaded had just arrived.

"I knew this day would come," he voiced to himself as he looked down.

"Theo! What are you talking about?" Hermione couldn't help but run to him and embrace him tightly. She settled herself between his thighs, standing in front of him as she hugged him closely. Their bodies were intertwined with each other, molding perfectly.

Theo buried his nose in her neck, pulling her closer to his embrace. She was nestled between his legs as he remained seated on the bar stool. "Are you… going back to him?" he asked her softly. His voice was filled with fear and sadness. It broke her heart. Was she going back to him?

"Of course not, Theo! What Draco and I had was over the moment he left me." Damn it! Why couldn't she sound convincing enough?

"What if he begs you? What if he tells you that he's changed and he wants you back?" he whispered into her ear, still not letting her go.

"You know what he did to me. He broke my heart twice. I will _never_ forgive him. You know how deep the pain he caused me goes and I'm not stupid enough to ever let him do that to me again," she told him, trying her best to reassure him… or rather, to reassure herself.

"They said that the person you truly love is the only person who could truly hurt you," he divulged as he broke their embrace so he could see her face and look at her intently.

She couldn't look at him straight in the eyes; because no matter how she hid from it, she knew that everything he said was the plain truth. She hated herself for feeling this way in front of the man who loved her more than she could ever love him back.

She loved Theo. She really did. He made her blush, made her feel special, made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. He appreciated her, cherished her…

But she just couldn't give him all of her because of Draco, because of her first love and first heartbreak.

It was so frustrating and _maddening_.

She hated herself beyond all else because no matter what she did, she just couldn't love him the way she did Draco. She felt like she was struggling to climb out of a deep well with a string tied around her waist, pulling her down to just drown and die. Sometimes she thought that maybe she should just obliviate herself to get it over and done with.

Theo was a perfect fiancé. He couldn't make her insanely, preposterously, madly and _crazily_ _happy_ like Draco did, but he made her happy nonetheless.

_And she was getting there_. She had worked so hard and she knew she was getting there.

No. Draco couldn't ruin this for her. She had had enough of him sullying every hope of happiness she could ever get. She couldn't allow him to destroy her life again.

"P-Please don't leave me, Theo. Please don't," she pleaded as she embraced him, curling shakily into his chest like he was her very own cocoon. She couldn't give this up. She wouldn't go down without a fight. She would cut that string around her waist, climb out of that well and cover it with a huge stone. She couldn't drown and die.

"Oh baby, why did you ever think I'd leave you? That won't happen, okay? I love you. I'll never leave you," Theo whispered as he embraced her firmly, kissing her temple lovingly.

She felt so small being there, being in his arms as he cradled her whole body into a protective embrace. This was what she loved about Theo. He could always make her feel the safest, most cared for girl in the world.

_This,_right here…

_This_was the future she wanted and needed. She had always dreamed of a peaceful, happy life being shared with the one she loved and Theo could give her that. But now that Draco was back, everything that she had planned seemed to have started to fade away again. The path that she had made for herself was becoming unclear again, _and she was scared to death._

Draco _controlled_ her emotions and part of the reason why she had made him believe that she had obliviated herself from memories of him was because she was scared of him. She couldn't trust her heart anymore. She didn't trust herself enough to talk to him and not to fall for his tricks again. She was happy now. She just wanted him to go away. Why was he torturing her like this? Why did he have to come back?

"I'm scared, Theo." She couldn't help but say it out loud. "I'm scared of _him_. You know what he did to me and I'm scared that—that I'd go back to the same old cycle again, which was why I lied about obliviating myself. I don't want him in my life and it's the only way I could think of to keep him away. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. Please don't be angry. Please…" she cried as she held him even more tightly, burying her head into his chest.

"Sshh… No, love, I won't let that happen. I'm not angry, okay? I got you. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you and I will fight for you. I'll protect you. I _will never _let that bastard make you cry again. _I promise._"

* * *

**Song for the chapter: "The Way I Loved You" by Taylor Swift. I love this song! This is just the **_**perfect**_** song for Theo, Hermione and Draco. It pretty much sums up the conflict that Hermione is feeling right now over Theo and Draco.**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Thank you so much to my beta reader EchoDeltaNine! :)**

**As you can see at the top, I have a new image for this story (yaaay!) and it includes Theo now. Yeah, the Theo in my head is Tom Sturridge (he looks so PERFECT for Theo, the messy hair, the face, the facial expressions… urgh, everything!).**

**I've also posted some images on my photobucket for this story under my "Somebody That She Used to Know" Album. If you want to see them just visit my profile for the link for the album! :)**

**It includes:**

**1.) Hermione's Cottage House**

**2.) Malfoy Manor**

**3.) Theo's Flat**

**4.) Registered Auror Theodore Nott**

**5.) CEO/Managing Director Draco Malfoy**

**6.) Department Head Hermione Granger**

**7.) Pictures of Hermione**

**8.) Pictures of Theo**

**9.) Pictures of Draco**

**10.) Pictures of Hermione, Theo and Draco**

**I so love where this is heading and I'm excited for the later chappies. My phantom Draco and phantom Theo are actually glaring heatedly at each other in my head now. Obviously, this chapter gives one point to Theo and Draco isn't pleased. But he's not giving Hermione up without giving one hell of a fight. My poor Phantom Hermione is scared now, just sitting prettily at the corner with round puppy eyes and a scoreboard on hand. Lol. ;D**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**God bless, Sue**


	4. I'm Here, Aren't I?

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own any Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter world. They all belong to JK Rowling.**

**Chapter Four**

"**I'm Here, Aren't I?"**

"You are _insane_, Draco," Blaise declared; enunciating each syllable as if it was crucial for him to remind his friend of his mentality.

The blond ignored him as he continued reading the files by his desk. "I'm not listening to any of your shit right now," he muttered casually. "I'm busy."

"Busy plotting evil schemes," Blaise mumbled, rolling his eyes as he turned the revolving chair he was sitting in away from his 'irrefutably busy' friend. He clicked his tongue for an added effect and busied himself with the surroundings since it was evident that his friend was very intent on ignoring him.

Nothing really changed that much in the place.

Draco's office was enormous, the space was meant for such business with crowned heads such as himself.

Every detail, slope and elevation of the place was obviously well calculated and thought out. It represented strength, modishness, modernity and sophistication; a style that was entirely Draco Malfoy.

Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the skyline, making the office seem like it was floating on top of the world. Draco loved watching the busy metropolis from his point of view, especially at night when the city lights glowed over the horizon. He loved watching people _beneath_ him; a reminder of who he was as a person.

He was proud and powerful, something he really didn't hide in public. There was no space for modesty and reticence in his vocabulary. No one could counter it, in any case. One word from Draco Malfoy could either make or break a business deal. Then it was simply left to the domino effect; one business deal could affect a company, which then could affect a certain person or employee, which then could affect a family, which was the basic foundation of the community that made up the world. He was at the top of the caste, the cause of the chain reaction. His word was law. No one defied him. He was _that_ powerful and he reveled in it in every way possible.

Despite all of the ridiculously expensive furniture, there was only one colored artwork present. There were no other textured accessories, leaving the room looking empty in spite of its preposterous luxury. Everything, except the artwork, was either black or white; nothing in between, nothing more.

Blaise nodded. Yeah, perhaps, this room was really everything that represented Draco Malfoy.

Lavish but empty.

The single artwork was the main attraction of the whole place. It was a beautiful moving canvas of Hermione Granger. The girl was _stunning_, Blaise could never deny it. No one could. Whenever investors and shareholders would go inside the office, their eyes would always linger on the striking piece. Not because it was the only colored object in the office, but because of its incontestable beauty and eloquence.

It was painted by one of the most talented painters in the Wizarding world, a celebrated artist by the northern slopes of Russia. Like the historical Mona Lisa, the painting was sheltered by a flexible oak frame with sycamore crosspieces. The whole portrait stretched from the marble floor to the vaulted ceiling. Directly above it was a rectangular skylight that allowed sunbeams to permeate the painting, serving as its spotlight.

Blaise was there the very first time that Draco showed it to Hermione. It was just after her birthday celebration which Draco worked so hard to give her. Draco had asked all the guests to accompany him and Hermione to his office because he wanted to show them something. He had another gift for his girlfriend, he said, as if the grand celebration at the Manor itself and all those impossibly expensive gifts weren't enough.

Everyone was speechless the moment they entered the room. It was a full moon that night, so the luminosity from the opened skylight had gilded the painting in stunning relief. The girl in the enchanted portrait was smiling slightly as the light slithered along her porcelain skin. Her lips were red like rubies, they sparkled as she smiled. She was playfully running her hands on her hair as she stared back at them with her round honey-colored and slightly dazed eyes. Blaise was sure that it was the most beautiful painting he'd ever seen in his entire life. It glowed in magnificence and splendor and _eternal_ _beauty_. If the girl in the picture wasn't a portrait of his best friend's girl, Blaise was sure he would have bought the portrait of her for himself.

Hermione was blindfolded in Draco's arms and she was almost jumping up and down in excitement as she impatiently pleaded with him to let her see his gift. She could hear the gasps from the guests and she was dying to know what it was.

When Draco had finally taken her blindfold off, she had gaped at the huge portrait and started to cry again. Merlin knew how many times she had cried in happiness that day. Anyone would if they were in her position. The girl was always treated like a princess. Draco had done absolutely everything for her.

But then again, Hermione was the only one who had ever managed to make her way into Draco's nonexistent heart. That act, in itself, was beyond any intellectual capacity. It could even be considered as an achievement. If everything wasn't so tragic, Blaise would have given the girl a medal or an award for simply keeping him at bay for four long years.

The fact was Draco Malfoy could never really be a one-woman man. The fact was, Blaise and Draco… they were the kind of guys who could never really fall in love, the kind who could never really settle. They grew up in a world where marriage was nothing but a convenient fusion of families, a necessity to ensure heritage, inheritance and the lot. In Blaise's mother's case, she married to widen her wealth and possessions; being widowed seven times over with each of her husbands' deaths occurring under doubtful incidents.

For Draco's parents, well, they didn't have any other choice, really. Their fates were sealed before they were even born, or conceived for that matter. It was a family deal and nothing more. They married for the security of their bloodline. It was all a business transaction and marriage was nothing but a permanent binding tool for the said business deal.

There was no such thing as _love_,so Blaise and Draco had promised each other never to seek it, to never fall for it; because they truly and utterly believed that love was illusive, an erroneous conviction people made to make life somewhat bearable. The only problem was… Draco did. _Big time._

On Draco's desk, there stood four picture frames. Those frames never really left his desk even after the two had went on their two year, around the world, reckless, wild bachelor tour. Draco didn't want anyone to touch his things inside his office even after he broke up with Hermione. He had his house elves clean them for him but they otherwise remained untouched.

There was one with a picture of Draco, Narcissa and Hermione that was taken in the living room of the Malfoy Manor. The picture was most important to Draco. It was the picture that indicated Hermione's attachment to him and his family. It signified the fact that he considered her a member of his family. Being the head of the manor, Draco was seated on a luxurious black leather chair and Hermione and Narcissa stood beside him. Hermione was the only one smiling, which was understandable since the Malfoys never really smiled in family photo sessions. They usually just stared at the camera with blank, formal expressions. Draco and Narcissa were trained for that, having those photo sessions in weekly issues of the Daily Prophet for the sake of Lucius Malfoy's public status. If Hermione ever noticed it, she never really opened it up, knowing the implication of where the topic would lead them.

The second picture was a candid picture of Hermione, looking quite pensive and lost in thought. It was taken in the grand Malfoy garden. She was seated on one of its benches, not really aware that Draco was taking her picture. Draco said it was his favorite picture of her. Deep down, Blaise knew why. The Malfoy Garden didn't really look like a garden before Hermione entered their life. It was more like a deserted graveyard. Hermione came like a ray of sunshine to the Malfoys. She was fond of beautifying things, obliviously healing them in the process.

Narcissa had looked near as a ghost until Hermione came to the Manor and changed her. Once at dinner, Hermione randomly mentioned how vast the space she'd seen in the vicinity of the Malfoy Lake while she was wandering around the grounds that day. She said that she found the field's soil fertile and perfect for a garden and asked them if she could use it to plant some roses, not really knowing that the actual ground she was talking about was the Malfoy garden itself once upon a time.

Draco and Narcissa had looked at each other awkwardly when Hermione innocently chatted to them about it, but Draco knew how much Hermione adored roses and he couldn't really say no to her. She had a beautiful garden outside her little cottage and she had left it to be with him. Narcissa didn't mind, the Malfoy grounds didn't matter much to her like it did before. She was forced into St. Mungo's for the major depression she suffered after the execution of her husband. She just didn't have the time or the energy to argue about anything so trivial as a garden.

Hermione started cultivating some green roses at once. She told Draco once that she loved green roses because they were rare and they reminded her of him. Green roses were strong and disease resistant, but they were very tough to plant. They were very high maintenance and they needed extra attention, care, and love in order for them to grow well, but when they did, their beauty lasted all through its life. Green roses were rare but eternal, she said.

When springtime came, the garden was filled with Hermione's green roses, it almost looked like paradise. Narcissa approved of it, and eventually there came a day that she was often seen wandering around the gardens. It was a huge step for her, as for years she had isolated herself inside the Manor, afraid of falling back into depression again and be sent back to St. Mungos if she stepped out of her sanctuary. Once or twice, at Narcissa's requests, she and Hermione even had dinner by the loggia together. In time, Narcissa fell in love with the place. By that time, Hermione started to grow different kinds of roses, too, from deep scarlet to pink esperance to lavender to yellow to white…

Narcissa was so pleased with the outcome of the garden that she started joining Hermione with her leisure pursuit. Without realizing it, Hermione had helped Narcissa to smile more often, to talk more and to mingle just like she had used to before the untimely death of her husband. Months after that, Narcissa had began on hosting parties at the Manor again, even bragging and showing off the new, beautifully cultivated Malfoy garden to her friends, proudly telling them that she and Hermione were the very ones who tended them.

The third and fourth pictures were of Draco and Hermione. The first one showed he and Hermione on their bed. Draco was kissing her on her temple while she laughed and waved playfully at the camera. She was wearing a thin, white camisole and panty shorts. Draco appeared to not wear a thing from that angle. His naked torso was visible but his lower part was covered by the blankets and Hermione was seated on his lap. The picture was sexy but also modest and sweet enough to be displayed on his desk. Secretly, it was Blaise's favorite, if he needed to have one.

The latter one was taken at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor in Diagon Alley. Hermione was smiling happily at the camera while holding her favorite treat called 'Florean Special Ice Cream', which was a chocolate truffle flavored ice cream with special chocolate chip cookies and caramel toppings. It was the store's specialty. Draco was beside her, looking resignedly at the camera while showing off his Neapolitan ice cream as Hermione undoubtedly had instructed him to raise it for the camera. Every weekend, Draco would take her there for an ice cream treat. One could say that the couple was regular visitors of the place, so it also became a regular spot for paparazzi.

Draco and Hermione were considered a celebrity couple. Hermione wanted to make their relationship private but it just wasn't possible, seeing that Draco had always been a high profile business man, not to mention the most successful, most loved eligible bachelor in the Wizarding world. No matter what they did, there were always cameras everywhere as Draco seemed to be the favorite topic of articles in 'Witch Weekly'. Yet, despite everything, their relationship still got stronger.

Draco's love life had always been in the spotlight. More often than not, everything was always in speculation as he was often seen dallying with a different girl almost every week before he had settled with Hermione. Many famous witches had been linked with his name but Hermione was the only girl he had publicly introduced as his girlfriend. The act alone made them the most celebrated couple in an instant.

It was a big deal that Draco Malfoy had announced that he was dating someone exclusively. The interview landed in the headlines in almost all of the Wizarding newspapers. Nobody really thought that the notorious womanizer would land himself a serious girlfriend. Before, the name 'Hermione Granger' had always been connected to Harry Potter; seeing that she was one of the 'golden trio' in the Second Wizarding War. However, when Draco publicly announced her as his first and only girlfriend to make everything official, her name became the name that all the other girls desired to have. She was both admired by the sensible ones and hated by the jealous ones.

Hermione paid no attention to any of them. If anything else, it just strengthened her relationship with Draco. People often said they were meant to be together.

There was a time when everything was just _perfect_, in any case.

But it really wasn't meant to last.

Their relationship was something that never really should have happened. It messed with the normal current of the universe, thus Draco ended up breaking the heart of the only girl he ever truly loved. It wasn't supposed to happen in the first place.

Blaise had always thought that Hermione was a very sweet girl. She was innocent and was deserving of being loved. She was _normal_. She didn't come from a messed up family like Blaise and Draco did. She grew up with parents who loved each other. She grew up surrounded by people who cared for her because of what she was and not for what she had. She deserved better and Blaise felt guilty for letting Draco fall for her, because he knew it would just end badly. And so it did.

Blaise saw it before his very eyes. He knew it would all lead to destruction, which was why he did what was best. He plotted to place a strain on Draco and Hermione's relationship by luring Draco into that weekend getaway to cheat on her. He knew he was at fault but it just needed to happen. He didn't do it to sabotage their relationship. If anything, he just really wanted to see how much Draco would sacrifice for her, because he knew Hermione deserved to have constancy, not a high profile relationship that was filled with guesswork and uncertainties. She needed a clear future.

It was a test, and Draco didn't pass it.

If they were truly meant to be, and if Draco really changed because of her, he really wouldn't have cheated on her even if he was drunk.

Blaise just wanted to see and he was right. He needed to impede everything before it got worse. Draco didn't know what he was doing and it was best for Hermione to stay as far away from him as possible.

Blaise _knew_ just how much his friend loved Hermione. He knew she was all he needed, but he also knew that in a relationship, trust and love should be mutual. Draco and Hermione's relationship was unhealthy. Hermione shouldn't take care of Draco forever like the mother that he never had just because he seemed incapable of taking care of himself. His parents had deprived him of such a care when he was younger. Draco was traumatized by his father's rage and his mother's inability to protect him, so he became defensive of everything. He was easily angered, incredibly possessive of Hermione and unconsciously leaning on her in everything he did. In their relationship, it looked like he was the one taking care of Hermione but it was actually the other way around.

Hermione would calm him down when he lost his temper, reminded him again and again not to drink too much or to cause much trouble inside a bar, or to never drive when he was drunk, or to always place his seatbelt on when he tried to drive her muggle car. Whenever he was not feeling well, he wouldn't even drink a potion by himself. He'd just lay there so she'd see him and take care of him. He wouldn't even touch his tie because he knew Hermione would fix it for him… petty things, really. But Blaise knew that Draco just needed to get past it and just _grow_ _up_.

Draco acted like a little kid because he never got to be one. However, Hermione shouldn't be his mother just because Narcissa failed to be one. But Draco was unyielding. He was stuck in his past. Whenever Blaise tried to talk to him about it, he'd just go ballistic and tell him how barmy he was.

Draco didn't love himself enough to love a person. He was too messed up, and if he couldn't let go of his issues, then he would just hurt Hermione again even if he promised never to do it anymore. Blaise knew Draco had meant every promise he had made for Hermione before, it was just the fact that he really couldn't keep one for long. He was destruction in the making and Blaise couldn't let him hurt Hermione again, because when it happened, he knew Draco would never forgive himself. He would loathe himself more for hurting the only girl he loved again. If that time came, Blaise knew he would truly lose his only friend.

Twice was really more than enough. They'd thank him at the right time.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be at work or something?" Draco snapped, frowning at his documents.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon." Blaise shrugged as he twisted his recliner to face his problematic friend again. "I happen to have a very exciting nocturnal job, not as big as yours, but it's not as boring."

Draco just rolled his eyes. Leave it to Blaise to insult his 'boring' job. Blaise had always been all about fun and games. He owned three of the most exclusive and high profile nightclubs in England. Blaise's mother had asked him over and over again to accept the position she was offering him in their company, but whenever the topic was mentioned, he would either walk away or turn a deaf ear. Blaise didn't have the ambition and drive that Draco had. They were very much alike in many ways, but Blaise always had his mother to look out for him. He was lucky enough not to have experienced the struggle that Draco had undergone when his father had received the kiss in Azkaban. Draco's mother wasn't as strong as Blaise's mother. While Mirabella Zabini was busy reconstructing a business empire, Narcissa Malfoy was practically a lunatic in the wards of St. Mungos, leaving her only son to pick up all the pieces.

By then, Draco had learned to stand on his own. Even when he and Blaise had gone away for two years and Narcissa was left in charge of everything, Draco had never forgotten to check on her from time to time. He considered his company an empire, _his_ empire, proof of his power and strength.

"Pansy just called me up again by the way. The gang misses you. She's going to arrange a welcome home party for the both of us tomorrow night," Blaise informed him.

"I'm having dinner with Hermione tomorrow night." Draco smirked smugly at his friend.

Blaise almost stumbled out of his seat. "Come again?"

"I said I'm having dinner with Hermione tomorrow night," he repeated, looking more conceited than ever.

"How the fuck did you manage that?"

"You seem to forget who I am," Draco reminded him, his husky voice dangerously low. "I'm _Draco Malfoy_."

"Quit beating around the bush and spit it out. How the hell did you manage to get her to agree to have dinner with you?" Blaise was absolutely intrigued now.

"I had a meeting with the Minister a few days ago. I'm one of the benefactors for one of their department's annual fundraiser balls. Our meeting was arranged by the Minister himself as I specifically requested for Hermione's assistance, seeing that she is the Department Head of the Magical Law Enforcement. I have the Minister at my back, she couldn't really say no; and besides, she won't know it's me until tomorrow night," Draco sniffed, looking as if he was waiting for Blaise to praise him for his, yet again, ingenious plan.

"You're abusing your power," Blaise said, narrowing his eyes.

"That's what I do." Draco shrugged nonchalantly while waving him off. "Again, I'm Draco Malfoy."

"You're _insane_, Draco. Just fucking insane!" Blaise stood up and started pacing the room. His friend was crazy. Why couldn't he just give it all up and move on? He didn't want to be a part of breaking Hermione's heart again. The poor girl had already suffered enough.

"She's mine, Blaise. She's my girl. _Mine_," Draco growled.

"You're the git who ruined her life," Blaise cruelly reminded him.

"She doesn't remember me," Draco whispered.

"But surely her friends do," Blaise retorted.

"Which is _why_ I'm meeting her alone," Draco explained impatiently. He was annoyed at Blaise's taxing aversion to his plans. "My mother is the owner of one of the biggest nonprofit organizations in the Wizarding world and I'm her kind, perfect, charitable son. Hermione and I will have dinner as if it is the first time. It will be a fresh, clean start. _She will love me again_," he stated with finality and ludicrous confidence.

Blaise was unimpressed. "You just used the name of your mother's charitable foundation without her permission. Last time I knew, you're not even interested in it."

"It doesn't matter. She'll thank me when I finally have Hermione back. My mother adores Hermione. She wanted me to marry her; and I'm telling you, once I have Hermione back, I intend to do so. I'm never going to let her go again. I'm serious. She's mine. She's always been mine," Draco declared firmly.

"All because you realized that the grass isn't greener on the other side, of course. _After _you cheated on her, left her and broke her heart. As the saying goes, once a cheat, always a cheat. You'll just change your mind again. You're hopeless, Draco." Blaise shook his head in aversion.

"I never cheated on her!" Draco was visibly fuming now as he harshly stood up, thumping his fists on his desk. Merlin, the guy was delusional.

"Yeah, right," Blaise snorted sarcastically. "You just shagged some random girls over a wild weekend away from her. Yeah, big deal, right?"

"It was nothing, Blaise! I was drunk!" Draco defended himself.

"Doesn't matter. You broke her heart. _Twice_, Draco," Blaise argued.

Draco wouldn't have any of it. He sighed tiredly, "I made some mistakes in the past but I know better now, okay? The first time I did… well, we were so young. I chickened out because I realized that I-I had fallen for her. You know I really didn't believe in that shit, Blaise. I know I've hurt her and I don't even have a proper excuse for it, except that my life was hell with my father being a sick, sadistic murderer sentenced for a kiss in Azkaban and my mother being the sick masochist that she was. No one showed me they loved me and Hermione was the very first. I didn't-I didn't know what to do. I got scared. I didn't think I deserved _her_. So I did what I had to do. I ran away and I know I was an idiot for doing so."

Blaise stared at his perceptibly distraught friend. Draco looked somber; grave, even. It was a contrast of how he usually appeared. Blaise didn't wish any harm on Hermione or Draco. In fact, he just really wanted what was best for them. Draco was his best friend and Hermione had been nothing but good and kind to him. He knew the depths of Draco's feelings towards Hermione, but he also knew that his friend was somewhat… unstable.

Blaise knew that if Draco wanted something, he would go to great lengths to have it, but there was always the possibility of him running away from it in the net second, not because he was bored but because he was too unsure of himself to deserve such happiness. Boredom was nothing more but a mask, but he'd run away and never look back anyway. Hermione was anything but that. Hermione was a good-natured girl, the kind that a man would take home to his parents, the kind that you would marry and be faithful to. She was the kind that began a relationship and was willing to commit for forever, but Draco with the word 'forever' just didn't mix. His friend was a mess. That was just the way it was. There was no hope.

"You still cheated on her, Draco. You still fucked those girls. The fact that you were drunk doesn't justify it," Blaise reminded him.

"I know and I'm sorry! I am, Blaise! It was a mistake. But you must understand that it didn't look like what she assumed. I never had an affair with anyone. You can't call it like that when it didn't mean a fucking thing! I love Hermione!"

"Yeah sure, it's just pure sex, right? Nothing serious, really… didn't mean a thing since you love her so," Blaise replied sarcastically.

"Stop patronizing me. I love Hermione. I do! She's the only girl I've ever loved," Draco exclaimed, running his hands through his hair resignedly.

"Still, the damage is done," Blaise harked back. "Even if you won't call it cheating, that's basically what you did. You've hurt her to the point that she obliviated you from her memories."

This seemed to leave Draco speechless. Blaise could hear the sharp intake of breath from his distressed friend and he knew that he had just hit the nail on the head.

"Draco, mate," Blaise started warily. "Look, I know that—"

"Even if I have to take my life away to erase the pain that I've caused her, I will, Blaise. You don't know how sorry I am. I want to make it up to her. I want to love her the way that she should have been loved in the first place," Draco whispered softly. His grey eyes were partly hidden by his loose bangs but Blaise knew the sincerity that would be found in them.

"If you're really sorry, you should just stay away from her," Blaise sighed resignedly. "She has someone now, Draco. She's happy now. She can't remember the pain anymore and I honestly think that it's a good thing, you know, for you, for _her_. Just let it go. Just let her go, man. It's too late."

"You don't know what you're saying, Blaise. Hermione is mine. No matter what it takes, I _will_ have her back. You'll see," Draco whispered as he finally looked his friend in the eye, his bangs casting dangerous shadows across his greedy expression.

Blaise tossed back his whiskey as he stared at his friend's hawk-like eyes. Draco slowly sat back in his chair, leaning back to gaze at the huge canvas in the middle of the office, sipping his whiskey. There was an eerie determination in his eyes, almost like he had transformed into his predatory form.

Blaise knew what his friend was thinking. Draco was very combative in nature. He was the predator, the prowler that didn't care for anything but what he wanted. He was selfish and he didn't share.

_What Draco Malfoy wants, Draco Malfoy gets._

Theodore Nott should be ready if he wanted to keep his girl.

* * *

It was a sunny, busy weekend in Diagon Alley. Hermione leaned closer to Theo as they huddled through the crowd to get to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Theo had his arm protectively around her waist as they battled through the crowd.

"You okay?" Theo asked when they were able to flee from the mob of people crowding the cobbled alleyway.

"I forgot that school starts in only a week," Hermione blurted while fanning herself with her hand. She felt so uncomfortable and sticky. The place was packed with witches and wizards shopping for school supplies. She had completely forgotten about it when she asked Theo to accompany her for a little stroll at the alley as they always did every weekend. Her talk with the Minister about her department's annual fundraiser ball had taken all of her attention. She was going to meet one of the biggest benefactors they ever had tomorrow night and she was excited and nervous about it.

She was usually very composed about these matters but she was just in awe of the amount this benefactor had just offered to their fundraiser. She was asked to be the person to seal the deal tomorrow and she felt that her department's fundraiser was in her hands now. They didn't have enough benefactors this year and the anonymous giver was her only chance to push through with her planned projects.

If only she'd remembered that Neville had only just been blabbering to her two days ago about how excited he was about his new lessons in Herbology for his students this year, she could have dragged her fiancé to muggle London instead to avoid being caught in a stampede in the middle of a shopping extravaganza a week before the school year opened. But then again, there was no 'Florean Special Ice Cream' in muggle London. There was none like anywhere else in the world. A taste of the scrumptious chocolate truffle flavored ice cream with special chocolate chip cookies and caramel toppings completed her weekend and it was really worth all the hassle.

"Merlin, I'd really kill for my favorite ice cream right now," Hermione grunted as they made their way to the parlor.

Theo chuckled fondly while tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "I seriously think you're addicted to the stuff. I swear one scoop of it makes you the happiest person on earth."

Hermione suddenly froze. She must have unconsciously stopped walking because Theo frowned and asked her if she was okay.

Hermione just nodded and smiled as they went inside the ice cream parlor, shaking her thoughts away.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Theo asked again. "You look a bit pale."

"I'm okay, Theo," Hermione replied, smiling. She was okay. It was just that-that, well, the way Theo described her love for her favorite ice cream was just… the way _someone_ from her past had said it to her before.

"_I swear one scoop of it makes you the happiest person on earth."_

They just sounded too alike, it almost killed her.

_Hermione winced slightly as a busy shopper inadvertently bumped her as she and Draco were walking on the paved side road. _

"_Watch it!" Draco looked furious as he glared at the oblivious stranger. The stranger grunted in pain as Draco hastily grasped his arm. _

"_What's your problem?" the strange, long-limbed man asked in irritation as he faced them. _

"_You just bumped my girlfriend and then you ask me what the problem is?" Draco shouted heatedly at the confused and obviously annoyed man. _

"_Draco, please. He didn't mean it," Hermione whispered warningly while pulling Draco away from the equally pissed stranger. They were starting to attract attention. _

"_Please, just go," Hermione warned as she faced the stranger. She knew a brawl would likely start if he just stood there and continued to provoke her overly protective boyfriend. The stranger, finally catching her warning glares, scoffed before turning away to slip into the crowd._

"_Hey! Get back here, you wanker! Don't you know who I am?" Draco yelled._

"_Draco, please! Just let it go," Hermione pleaded, pulling on his arm to stop him from dashing after the offender. "It was an accident. Please."_

_Draco exhaled noisily, finally succumbing to her gentle caress on his arm. "Are you alright?" he asked her gently, kissing her forehead before examining her from head to toe._

"_Draco, honestly, you're overreacting," Hermione rolled her eyes but softened when she noticed just how much he was worried about her. She smiled and kissed him before gently running her hands through his baby soft blond hair that stood up in the crowd. He was just so adorable even during his unstable moments. "I'm alright, Draco. It was nothing, okay?"_

"_But that asshole nearly—"_

"_Just buy me my ice cream and I'll be all good and dandy." She grinned brightly at him. This seemed to pacify him. Hermione had just sealed a deal in her department and he wanted to give her everything to let her know just how proud he was of all her achievements._

"_I swear one scoop of it makes you the happiest person on earth," he chortled affectionately, pulling her into his arms to kiss her once again in the middle of the cobbled street. There were cameras flashing from Merlin knows where again, but she didn't care. Hermione's eyes fluttered. She had the perfect man. All the rest of the world could go cry and be jealous of her and she honestly didn't care._

_Draco held her waist protectively as they continued walking to the small, quaint ice cream parlor. _

"_Good afternoon," the scrawny looking waiter, a chap by his early twenties, greeted them as they entered the parlor. _

"_Hi," Hermione greeted back enthusiastically. It was a hot, busy day. She was looking forward for her ice cream. _

"_We'll have the usual," Draco informed the waiter as he pulled a chair for Hermione. _

"_I'm sorry sir, but our 'Florean Special Ice Cream' is unfortunately unavailable as of this moment. We have a lot of customers seeing that it is a week before Hogwarts opens. It is a busy day and unfortunately, our stocks were cut short," the young lad apologized._

_Hermione was disappointed. She craved it so much that she could practically taste it on her tongue._

"_The special chips and flavored concoctions specially made for the chocolate truffle, special chocolate cookies and caramel toppings in the Florean Special Ice Cream are not available as of the moment, sir. We didn't expect the number of customers we had today and there was a children's party by the village that required deliveries from our parlor. We are terribly sorry," the waiter apologized, looking ashen under Draco's penetrating glare._

"_I don't fucking care!" Draco burst out. Hermione held his hand to try to calm him but he wasn't fazed at all. He seemed intent to make the poor young man's life miserable. "My girlfriend and I are regular visitors of this place and she's always had your special ice cream! I won't let her settle for less just because of this parlor's ineptness!" he rambled on, making sure to make the waiter feel the severity of his voice._

"_W-We are very sorry; sir, but the special chips and flavored concoctions for the Florean Special Ice Cream are all imported from Switzerland and Belgium. The stocks are to be delivered tomorrow morning. We hadn't expected our supply to run out of it. W-We are truly sorry," the waiter stammered, wiping sweat from the top of his creased brow. _

_Draco looked apoplectic; Hermione had to intervene. "Draco, please. It's really okay. I'll just have some butter pecan, okay?" she whispered, holding his hand firmly; her other hand caressing his arm, trying her best to console him. If anything, however, this just doubled Draco's persistence to get her favorite ice cream. _

"_No. You will have your favorite ice cream," Draco announced resolutely. "Where is Florean Fortescue?" he demanded._

_The young man paled. "H-He is inside, sir," he spluttered, looking like he was about to cry._

"_I demand to talk to him this instant," Draco stipulated, bringing forth dominance in the room. No one could ever deny him anything when he was like this._

"_Draco, please. L-Let's just go somewhere. We can get some butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks. I think I feel like having some now. This is not necessary, please," Hermione bargained, embarrassed that they were making such a scene. She bit her lower lip as she looked around, watching out for the stalking paparazzi. This little misunderstanding could be translated into a huge feud and be headlines tomorrow. Draco had a big project in talks with the Ministry and was still waiting for a signed permission from the office of International Magical Trading Standards Body__for some of his exported goods in his business and she didn't want him to be in trouble just because of her craving for an ice cream. _

"_Baby, don't worry about it, okay?" Draco's expression softened when he looked at her. "Just hang on, you're going to have your ice cream even if I have to barge in and talk to all the storeowners and buy all their stores in Diagon Alley. You _will_ have your ice cream, I promise." Even if he sounded like the most arrogant, conceited man in the world, Hermione just really couldn't help but feel special and loved whenever he did this. He really loved spoiling her rotten and she just couldn't stop him from it because in truth, as a girl, she secretly reveled in it. _

"_Do you want me to barge inside to talk to him?" Draco goaded; turning his attention back to the poor waiter. _

"_N-No sir, I'll summon him right away," the lanky young man squeaked before scurrying inside._

_Hermione frowned at Draco. "Look what you did, Draco. It's not his fault, you know. You're being such a bully again," she admonished him, feeling bad for the young man._

_Draco frowned equally at her but then kissed her instead of arguing back. "You just told me outside that you really want your favorite ice cream," he reminded her. "I know how much you love it and it always makes your day. I promised to give you anything you want and I don't intend on breaking that promise just because this lousy store runs out of it," he continued haughtily, looking more determined than ever. _

_Hermione gaped at him. This man was impossible. She honestly didn't know whether to slap him out of his arrogance or to snog him senseless._

_With Draco, there was just nothing in between. He could either make her angry and frustrated that she could tear her hair out or he could make her so damn happy and content that she just couldn't ask for more. _

_He made her feel so… _alive_._

_It was always a rollercoaster with him, always the extreme. It was just one of the reasons why she was so madly in love with him._

"_What is the matter, sir?" Florean Fortescue himself, a man in his late sixties, asked when he walked out of the door. His annoyed expression suddenly turned into a haunted, ghostly one when his eyes landed on Draco Malfoy._

"_Florean," Draco acknowledged flatly. _

"_M-Mr. Malfoy! How delightful to see you, sir. How is your mother?" the old man greeted Draco warily; looking as if he was contemplating on whether or not he should bow down and kiss Draco's well-polished, costly Italian shoes._

"_She's well, although she doesn't know how inefficient this store has become. Alas, I think it is crucial for me to inform her that the ice cream parlor she had benefited is becoming quite short of quality," Draco told the owner casually while playing with Hermione's soft hand and staring at her beautifully manicured nails._

_His voice sounded free of malice but the result of his sentence was instantaneous. Florean's eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. His veins were threatening to crawl out from his head. Hermione was sure the old man was endangered of having an aneurism anytime soon._

"_W-What seems to be the problem, Mr. Malfoy?" Florean asked nervously. _

_Apparently, his attendant was too panicked to explain to him what the problem was. This irked Draco to no end. He sighed loudly as he rolled his eyes. "You see, Florean. This beautiful girl right here is my girlfriend," he explicated as he turned to Hermione who was already blushing scarlet._

"_O-Oh, yes. Good afternoon, Ms. Granger," Florean squeaked nervously at Hermione. Everyone knew she was Draco's girl._

"_Well, you know we often come here for her favorite ice cream,"__Draco started._

"_Draco, please. It's okay. I can just have—" Hermione was shushed by Draco kissing her. This rendered her temporarily speechless and flustered. Damn those gorgeous lips and damn those silly fogs they created._

"_Hermione has this huge project in her department which she managed to close the deal with and seeing her knowledge and skills, I'm not surprised about it," Draco narrated smugly. There was pride in his voice. "It's a special day, you see, and I want it to be perfect and it won't be without the ice cream that she loves, which is the only thing special about this damn parlor which would have been demolished a long time ago if it hadn't been for my mother's charitable donation." Draco looked really angry and impatient now that Hermione had to gently squeeze his hand to calm him._

"_O-Of course Mr. Malfoy. Please forgive the slight trouble. Please stay in your seats. We will be serving you your order. I will personally see to it that my employees will be able to retrieve the lacking ingredients and we will be making and serving you our special ice cream within an hour. For the meantime, please enjoy some pumpkin juice and—"_

"_Thirty minutes," Draco demanded. Florean almost had a heart attack._

"_B-But sir, our special ingredients in the concoctions are from—"_

"_Didn't you hear me? Thirty minutes," Draco snapped._

"_B-But sir…"_

"_Draco, please. Just give them an hour. Getting the ingredients is enough trouble already," Hermione beseeched._

"_Forty five minutes, Florean, or I will make sure this fucking parlor never serves another cone ever again," Draco warned him gravely._

_Hermione could swear the old man screamed like a girl before he scurried off in panic._

_Exactly forty five minutes later, Hermione was happily eating her favorite Florean special chocolate truffle ice cream with special chocolate chip cookies and caramel toppings… with a bonus kiss from her crazy, yet utterly adorable boyfriend._

"_I love you, Hermione," Draco whispered sincerely at her, beaming sweetly with his hypnotic grey eyes sparkling from the light coming in from the window; his soft bangs framing them a little. He looked like an angel, her angel._

"_I love you too, Draco," she whispered back, almost hearing the beat of her heart through her chest. It was singing in endless bliss._

_Draco Malfoy was… extreme, intense… __**unforgettable**__. And he was hers. _

_She could never ask for more._

"Good afternoon," a short, plump brunette girl with large, round glasses greeted Theo and Hermione as they went inside the ice cream shop. The tall, gangly young waiter before was not working here anymore. They said he got a job at the Ministry and got himself a bride. Hermione was happy for him. He deserved a good life after she'd seen the way Draco treated him. She guessed everyone just moved on. It was funny how time could fly so fast. It was funny how the memories of it could still sting.

"Good afternoon," Theo greeted back kindly as he led Hermione inside, pressing his hand into the small of her back to walk her into her seat.

"We'd like to order one butter pecan and one Florean Special Ice Cream, please." Hermione beamed at the waitress. Theo was not as crazy as she was when it came to the famous Florean Fortescue Special Ice Cream and he preferred the simple butter pecan more.

"Oh, I am sorry ma'am, but we are out of our special ice cream today. There was a field trip from the nearby local Wizard preschool by the village, and also since it's a week before the school year opens at Hogwarts, we are out of stock," the waitress apologized to Hermione.

Hermione was crestfallen. She knew it was ridiculous of her to do so but her weekend wouldn't be complete without her favorite ice cream.

"Is that so?" Theo frowned at Hermione worriedly.

"It's alright, Theo. I'll just have some butter pecan," Hermione assured him, trying to hide away her disappointment.

"Are you sure?" Theo asked again, looking really concerned.

"Of course, I'm sure, Theo. Don't be silly," Hermione chuckled softly. "It's just an ice cream flavor."

"Alright then," Theo sighed, smiling fondly at her. He kissed her temple before looking back at the waitress. "Two butter pecan then, please," he requested from the young girl.

The waitress smiled back. "Coming right up, sir."

Five minutes later, Hermione was eating her butter pecan ice cream, it was good but it wasn't the best. She didn't know she had sighed loudly until Theo looked at her worriedly.

"Don't you like the flavor? There are still a lot available, maybe we can—"

"No, no, Theo. It's good. It really is," Hermione chuckled nervously. What was she doing? She was acting like a brat. It was just ice cream. Merlin, she was being insensitive. She knew Theo already felt bad for not giving her what she wanted. She couldn't let him think that she didn't appreciate his efforts for her.

"Don't worry. I promise I'll buy you your favorite flavor tomorrow," he assured her before leaning to kiss her softly.

"That sounds nice," Hermione murmured, smiling lovingly before kissing him again, leaning into his warmth.

She had such a kind fiancé. He wasn't difficult at all.

There were no complications, no fights that ensued. There were no paparazzi, no arguments, no problems… _no_ _worries_. There wasn't even a need to bother Mr. Florean Fortescue behind the staff door. People didn't need to look at them constantly or speculate some new gossip behind their backs. They were just a normal couple. It was relaxing. This was just what she wanted. It was a normal day, nothing extreme, nothing …special.

"I love you, Hermione," Theo whispered softly to her.

She smiled as she kissed him even more deeply.

Theodore Nott wasn't extreme. He was always in the middle, calm and balanced. He wasn't a rollercoaster. He wouldn't take her to her lowest, but he wouldn't take her to her highest either.

But she knew he was hers forever, mind, body and soul. He would _never_ hurt her.

He was here and he would never go away.

And because of that, she would never ask for more.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Thank you to my beta reader EchoDeltaNine for her undying work in tidying this up! :D **

**I know this is a **_**very**_** late update and I hate myself for it! But I've suffered a really nasty case of writer's block. The kind that… I had all the ideas in my mind, I even had the outline on where I should take this chapter, but I couldn't, for the life of me, place them all together and construct those damn sentences to finish a chapter. It's really frustrating, knowing what to do for the scenes but not being able to formulate them into words! I found myself just literally sitting, staring at the keys in front of me and just doing… nothing… twirling and playing with my hair and foolishly staring back at the screen while listening to music that didn't even give me enough inspiration to type the words I needed. It drove me crazy! So I took a breather and stopped trying for a while and procrastinated, continued my day to day activities away from my story while I waited for my dear muses to arrive.**

_**And **__**then, **_**when I finally had my muses back and was already done with half of this chapter, my damn computer crashed with my files, so I ended up continuing the other half of this chapter in a laptop without having the first half of my finished work from my computer even though it was sooo frustrating not being able to go back and reread what I've written in the first half. Good thing all my files were retrieved so I puzzled both back together, the first half from my computer then the second half in a laptop. So there… that pretty much sums up my explanation slash forgiveness letter slash childish rant. Haha!**

**Anyway, in this story, Florean Fortescue is alive contrary to the canon. I'm rather fond of his character. I don't want him dead. Also, this chapter is longer than the others so I hope you'll like it. I have as well placed some new pics on my photobucket in my "Somebody That She Used to Know" album so you can check them out if you want. Thank you so much for all your reviews and for being patient with me! Thank you, just, thank you. I really appreciate them! Make me happy and review? **

**Have a blessed day! **

**Chocolate truffle flavored ice cream with special chocolate chip cookies and caramel toppings, sweet kisses and hugs from moi!**

**Sue **


	5. How Have You Been?

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter world. They all belong to JK Rowling.**

**Chapter Five**

"**How Have You Been?"**

Some people had spent a lifetime waiting for something to give them the happiness and satisfaction they'd been searching to complete the puzzle, to cover that non-existent hole within.

Some people, the lucky ones, were born to find and keep it. Some people, the unlucky ones, no matter what they did, how hard they tried, never did.

It was different for Draco Malfoy.

He wasn't one of those unlucky ones, no. In fact, he was one of those people who were given exactly what they needed. He was given the chance for contentment. It was just he failed in the matter of keeping it, because he was too afraid of losing it.

When he was but a little boy, he would ask for different toys and Quidditch figurines and he would easily acquire them no matter what. He was the master of temper tantrums. He'd scream and stomp his foot. Sometimes, if that wouldn't work, he'd simply skip eating. Then in an instant, in a snap of his fingers, he would get it. Typical little shite, he was.

Those toys had made him happy, but he always wondered why it just wasn't easier to smile for long. One toy was impressive and fun the very second he held it, but the excitement would then cease to exist for just a day or so. He wouldn't want it anymore, and then, he was off for another conquest, for another toy to destroy.

All of his friends, few as they may be, were different from him. Even his best friend, Blaise, had his own favorite toys. This made Draco wonder why he never had one.

Vexing, shrieking little Pansy had her own favorite bisque doll with shiny, skin-like matte finish, long lashes and the softest and blondest of hair there ever was possible. Pansy once told him that Draco resembled her doll so perhaps, he should be its father. Draco was too angered and insulted of the fact that he was being compared to a lifeless, girly doll that he'd thrown a huge temper tantrum because of it. Little Pansy ended up crying and running into his father's arms, who was the one who bought the very doll from a popular and exclusive dollhouse at magical Paris on his little girl's fourth birthday.

Blaise had his treasured Quidditch action figures of the complete Puddlemere United Quidditch team players. They were given by his late biological father, he said. Blaise told him that his father had taken him to an International Quidditch game that day, the very first time he had fell in love with the game itself. He was only five but the moment was forever etched in his memory. It was the last he had seen of his father as well but it was the fondest of memory he had kept of his childhood.

Draco had all the toys in the world, but none of them meant a thing… because none of them had the memories just like those toys treasured by Pansy and Blaise.

His toys came from his parents' galleons, but neither of them had the time to accompany him out on a stroll nor give him memories like Pansy's father did, or Blaise's late father. He was always taken out by his father's subjects to choose all the toys he wanted. Sometimes, they were just delivered directly to his room by the house elves in the manor; with those huge, costly boxes.

It was then that he realized that none of them really meant a thing. He couldn't have a favorite toy because none of the toys given to him had a certain memory he could be fond of.

None of them mattered.

Sometimes, he would walk around the huge, empty manor and search for something even if he didn't know what it was in the first place. His little self would wander around in his pyjamas, clutching any random toy he could snatch to be his companion that particular night. He would stop by his parents' bedroom and just look up at the huge door, wondering if he could at least get that goodnight kiss Blaise was talking about, the one the Italian boy would always get from his mother before he would go to sleep every night; or maybe that bedtime story Pansy always loved getting from her father and how he would always tuck her in goodnight.

Little Draco always had bedtime stories from his nursemaid, of course, but never from his parents. They simply didn't have the time. He wondered if the difference was vast, or if someday he'd even have the chance to know and compare, even for just a night.

He had always believed and hoped that he'd get even a single night of that from his parents, which was why he'd often sneak out after his nursemaid had tucked him in. He would stand a minute or so in front of his parents' room, contemplating whether or not he would knock and ask them so. Yet, every time he was about to do so, they were either shouting at each other or were away for business trips. Little Draco was often left running back to his room while covering his ears away from his parents' harsh arguments.

He had hoped against all hope that someday he'd be able to have a single night with his parents, that maybe someday his father could read to him or his mother could kiss him goodnight. He would settle for a single story, for a single night, just as long as he had something he could brag to Blaise and Pansy about.

Little Draco hoped and hoped, until eventually, he grew up. And then it was over.

It was then he realized that maybe he wasn't meant to be happy at all. Maybe he didn't deserve anything at all. No one loved him.

His own parents didn't love him, so who else would? Who else could? Maybe he really was a little shite, just like what he heard from his father during one of his arguments with his mother one night.

Draco Malfoy had it all, they said; yet, behind all the glorious fame and power was the pretense of a contented life.

All his life, he had waited for that single act of love, for that single happiness.

He didn't know what people called 'happiness' back then. He guessed he'd feel something, _anything_, some sort of an epiphany or a revolutionary discernment to realize that finally he was content and happy.

He didn't have that. He didn't understand. He didn't know anything, until he found Hermione.

Hermione was the best thing that ever happened to him. She was the only good amongst all the constant bad in his life.

_That_ scared him.

He was too scared to make his world revolve around her. There were too many what ifs. He was too scared that someday, she would push him away just like what his parents did to him. If that ever happened, what would be left of him? If she did push him away, what would happen to him? He'd be more humiliated than he ever had been. He'd probably die without his dignity and pride.

Hermione had once asked him what it was that was bothering him. It was her job, anyway. She was always filled with questions, but it was just because she cared for him. He wanted to open up to her, to tell her his worries, but he just couldn't; not because he didn't want to, it's just that he _really_ couldn't. He couldn't explain to her what he was feeling because she would never understand. Nobody would.

He was the happiest with her but he was also scared to death that in a single snap, she'd take that single happiness away from him just like what everybody did. He was afraid to give everything because he knew that from the minute he would, nothing would ever be left for him anymore. He was in a constant battle and it was… exhausting.

Hermione mattered to him and that was the problem, really. Before Hermione, he was free to do _anything_ he wanted because he had nothing to lose, nothing to care about, and nothing to love. It suited him well. But then she came, and he was afraid once again. She could make or break him.

So then, just like he'd always done before, he pushed her away as well. Better him to do it first, right?

But then he realized, when he let her go, just how much lonely everything was before she came into his life.

Before Hermione, he was unrestricted, limitless, free… but he never was truly happy. Before Hermione, everything was just black and white. Before Hermione, everything seemed empty and useless. There was only contemporaneous day and night, but there never was a future to dream or plan about. There were no scary, uncertain feelings, but it was like doing something all over again, a formless routine, every day, with no particular reason.

He reverted back to the little kid again who threw his toys just a day or so, because none of them truly made him happy.

Because truly, before Hermione, he was dead.

And now he was back to the start again.

He was crazy, insane…

But he couldn't let her go. He wouldn't. Not anymore.

He smoothed some invisible creases from his dinner suit and sipped on his sparkling water as he waited for Hermione. He looked incredibly confident and superior as he sat there at the most exclusive table of the grand restaurant, patiently waiting for his date. Hermione might think that this was a business meeting, but he considered this as a date, the first of the many others in the future. If he needed to get back to the start to woo her once more, he'd do it.

Her portrait back at his office seemed to have mocked him before he went. She was lazily stroking her hair while inadvertently ignoring him. Draco realized that the moving canvas actually copied its real identity's state at the moment. Ever since he and Hermione broke up, the beautiful replica of her by his office wall seemed to hate him as well, almost as if she really was Hermione herself. Paintings. Fascinating works.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw the very woman he was thinking about, entering the gourmet restaurant. There seemed to have always been a pull of magnetism whenever she was around. He'd always know because his eyes were programmed to just look at her way every time she was in the same room with him.

He breathed deeply as he looked at her.

The maître d'hôtel escorted her inside, helping her out of her chic skirted trench coat before she was ushered towards the reserved table. She opted for a white high-crew neck dress with chic black patent-leather belt. She looked very business-like but classy and sexy as well as the dress hugged her beautiful curves, her tall peep-toe pump accentuating her posture. Her hair was on a neat updo, displaying her sweet face to him. She didn't have too much jewellery, just a silver bracelet and pearl earrings.

She was _perfect_.

He stood up to greet her but she tensed when she finally reached the table and saw him.

He couldn't decipher her reaction. She stood like a statue as she stared at him in shock, even forgetting to thank the headwaiter who just smiled and went away. Her eyes were round, making her honey-colored irises visible to him and her long lashes beautifully slanting over her eyelids. Her glossy, kissable lips were slightly apart, forming a small 'O'. She was breathing too deeply, making her chest move, silently seducing him.

Call him a sadist or a sick tormentor, but hell, it definitely turned him on.

"Good evening, Ms. Granger. You look… stunning," Draco whispered as he slowly took her hand in his, kissing her knuckles softly. This was as close as he could get, for now, and he would relish this moment.

She was still speechless. Perhaps she had recognized him from Potter's villa when he and Blaise trespassed and cornered her when she was together with her friends, or maybe that one time at Hogsmeade when she bought those reserved books. He'd been stalking her a lot. Maybe it got her confused. That was a wrong move on his part.

She was hyperventilating now. She looked somewhat shaken, then confused, then afraid… For a few seconds, her face contorted into panic but it was easily replaced by a guarded expression, until every emotion that was etched in her face a moment ago just vanished in a single snap, as if she was attempting to win a Blackjack game.

He found himself asking, "Are you all right?" He was worried. He knew she was in a delicate condition. The act of casting a memory charm was a serious, advanced magic. When it wasn't done properly, the victim may lose all of his or her memories, completely erasing them in the process. It may also cause severe brain damage or disorientation.

He knew that Hermione was a very brilliant witch, but his subjects informed him that she had obliviated her memories _herself_, with no one to do it for her. The memory charm itself was advanced and risky enough. Wouldn't that act be ten times the risk when one person would do it to himself or herself? What if she had seriously caused certain damage and he was triggering it by showing himself to her, as it was obvious that he was the main entity of said lost memories. They said that people with amnesia usually had these flashes of recollections when faced with certain traumas in the past. In Hermione's case, he was pretty much the object of the trauma, the root of it even.

"Ms. Granger? Are you alright?" he asked again. He wanted to scream, pull her into his arms, kiss her and ask her if she remembered him, but it would ruin everything. He didn't want to confuse her. He had done too much damage already.

"I-It is a pleasure to finally meet you, sir," Hermione finally greeted shakily, putting on a brave face. "I'm Hermione Granger of the Department of Law Enforcement."

If she ever remembered the time when he and Blaise came barging on Potter's private villa to ambush her, she didn't show it. Maybe she really forgot about it because she had paid him no mind whatsoever, or maybe she didn't really care, or she didn't want to. That hurt, somehow.

"Draco Malfoy of 'Malfoy Inc. Wizard's Gift Charity Program'. My mother owns the entire program, but as the managing director of Malfoy Inc. itself, I am one of the program's curators. I pretty much manage everything as I ensure all the beneficiaries and funds given to different sectors, been travelling the world with the ambassadors as well so that I can keep in touch with the less fortunate." Lies, all lies. He didn't care a damn thing about the program until now.

"Good for you," Hermione replied indifferently as she took her hand away from him a little bit too harshly. She appeared as if she didn't believe a thing he just said. And did she just… wipe her said hand with a napkin after? What was that all about? Shouldn't she be impressed as planned?

He wasn't giving up that easily, however. "Before anything else, Ms. Granger, I must commend you for—"

"Thank you," Hermione suddenly spoke, cutting him. What? He wasn't allowed for any pleasantries too? "I came here to discuss to you the benefits to which your charity program has signed on. We have divided the events, the bids and the sponsors to each of the benefited sectors. Your charity program is the highest beneficiary in this annual fundraiser so far and we are very grateful…"

Merlin, she was chattering on and on _and_ _on_ about the entire event, from the estimated funds to the bloody cause which he didn't even care about. She was all business. He could even swear they had tackled about more than half of the planned discussion over the entrée and before the main course even arrived.

But he let her discuss whatever she wanted to. He was very well contented in staring at her gorgeous mouth, anyway; the way her tongue swirled inside as she talked and the way she'd unconsciously lick her lower lip as she continued with the discussion. Merlin, he missed that precious mouth, which he had often played, teased, nibbled on a daily basis before. He smirked as he lounged on his chair a bit, his arm draping over the top rail and his other hand resting against his chin as he stared at her. Well, might as well get comfortable.

"You're not listening," she finally announced heatedly when she noticed his position. She looked pissed at him.

"I am. I like your lips when you talk. Go on," he urged her softly, waving his hand to let her continue.

She looked preposterously annoyed but his comment somehow made her squirm a bit. She bit her lower lip while averting his gaze. He knew her too well to note that she was, indeed, affected by his earlier comment. His smirk grew wider.

However, it seemed that she was refusing to hold unto any bait as possible. "As I was saying," she continued in a very business-like manner. "We now have an ample amount of lists of auction prices from private donors and non-profit organizations. We have sponsors from different establishments as well, to lend some commercial properties, tickets and gift certificates. In the bachelorette auction, there also comes a package with gift certificates according to the interest of each girl. This can attract potential bidders to give more and to know more about their potential dates—"

"Are you joining?" he suddenly inquired, looking interested.

"Excuse me?" she looked affronted.

"The bachelorette auction, are you joining?" he prompted as he leaned and placed his hands under his chin to stare at her. She backed away while straightening her dress.

"I'm one of the administrators of the event, Mr. Malfoy. It is my job to make sure everything goes well," she explained to him as if he was daft. That didn't put him off. He was more amused than anything else.

"You didn't answer my question," he countered.

"No. I will not be joining," she almost screamed back.

"Well, that's too bad. I for one will be very thrilled if you do," Draco told her before sipping on his wine.

"There are a lot of pretty girls in our auction that I'm very sure the likes of you will be very interested in," she blurted out.

"The likes of me?"

"Yes," she nodded complacently; "those types of bachelors who can't stick to a particular relationship, those who want something more than they can handle."

"And you think I am that type of person?" he probed. He wasn't happy where this particular conversation was going.

"I don't know," she replied noncommittally. "I do not know you, but I'm pretty good at reading people."

"What do you read in me?" he prodded while leaning even nearer. He could practically smell her fragrance. He missed her scent, the time when it was all over his pillows. But she couldn't remember what it was like back then…

He and Hermione… they had shared such an unrestrained passion. There were nights when there was nothing but their bodies and what they did with each other. They were passionate, wild, primal… They fed each other's fantasies, quenched each other's licentious thoughts, and gave in to unbridled, unadulterated lust. It was their secret, their sacred refuge; the one where the world was not privy of. They were unspoken. Those memories were theirs and no one else's. He was certain that she would never have that level of passion with anyone but him.

They belonged to each other.

She shrugged while sipping on her wine. "Nothing notable."

Merlin, she was killing him.

"What can I ever do to make you join the bachelorette auction?" he whispered at her. He'd bid all his fucking galleons just to get a date with her, a real one.

"I'm getting married soon. I don't think I fit the criteria," she professed while casually showing him her engagement ring. It was an exquisite princess-cut diamond ring with silver band.

He sucked in a breath to control his temper. He was angry all of a sudden. He could feel the little green monster morphing into something deadly inside his gut.

"You're not married yet," he reminded her through gritted teeth. He couldn't possibly lose his control due to his uncalled jealousy. It would ruin his plans.

"I will be very soon. It's the same as being a married woman," she stated smugly.

_Fuck, that statement stung._ His hand reflexively went to his chest, clutching his suit in a manner as if he was having an unstable angina. It was involuntary but he tried his hardest to not make it seem obvious.

"But the fact is you're still not married, and you might change your mind along the way," Draco opposed back.

"That will never happen," she swore seriously. She seemed to be stabbing her pan-seared salmon as if she was mutilating someone. Draco was glad he wasn't a salmon.

"What I was just trying to say is, maybe you might change your mind, you know. A person can't know his or her future, surely," he explained. He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest.

_You will change your mind. You're mine._

"There are two kinds of people in this world, Mr. Malfoy," she laughed humourlessly at him. It was quite a scary laugh if you ask him; "the one that couldn't commit and the one that could. I belong in the latter. I _love_ my fiancé and I will never do anything to hurt him in any way or form, like what other selfish people do, like _cheating_. Having a relationship with someone is something I consider sacred. If that sacred bond is destroyed by cheating then it can never be repaired again. If a person loves his or her partner enough then he or she will never resort on the cheap act of such a deceitful thing. If that happened then it was never love in the first place. If the person forgives and takes the assailant back then it's only pure stupidity and nothing else."

"T-There are a lot of factors to be considered, it doesn't mean it isn't love," Draco stammered. He felt being stabbed on the spot. She was still stabbing her salmon in too much force that she could break the plate. He might even be bleeding in the middle of the restaurant if her words could crack anything in literal.

"People who cheat do not know the meaning of love. They don't deserve to even speak about it," Hermione spat, her chest heaving as if she had just ran a marathon.

"M-Ms. Granger—"

"I know that you are a very busy man, Mr. Malfoy. I want to thank you for taking the time to discuss with me the prerequisites of the annual charity ball. As the head of my department, I would like to extend our gratitude to you. If there are any more concerns, you may send an owl to the address given to you by my secretary and I will personally seek to the matter. I will see you at the ball. Goodbye," she announced as she suddenly stood up, her chair loudly scraping as she did so.

She was visibly shaking and he worriedly rushed over to her side to see if she was alright.

"Don't touch me!" she unexpectedly screamed outrageously when he tried to reach for her, attracting attention from some of the guests dining inside.

Draco felt his heart break into pieces as he stared at her. She was trembling while placing her hands in front of her, palms out, desperately trying to stop him from getting closer. Her shoulders were slightly hunched in a protective stance. She was breathing so hard and she looked so pale, he thought she was going to pass out.

He wanted so much to pull her into his arms and embrace her. He wanted to coo gentle words in her ear and promise her that he would protect her. He wanted to kiss her and tell her that everything was going to be alright, that he would keep her safe from anything that could ever harm her, that he would keep the nightmares and the monsters away.

But he couldn't.

_Because he was the monster._

She looked so broken beyond repair. Was it possible that even if she didn't remember him, she was still hurting by the fact that he was near her? What have he done? Could he even be sorry enough? Could he even forgive himself for hurting the only girl he had ever loved?

"H-Hermione, let me—"

"NO!" she shouted before running away from him; like the time Cinderella did from her prince when the clock struck twelve.

Except this was no fairytale.

Draco Malfoy couldn't remain standing. He felt his wobbly knees giving in. He was left seated on his chair all night, dumbfounded and heartbroken.

* * *

"Harry and I had been together for 8 years and had only been engaged last year, while Luna and this Marcus Flint had only been together for a month and now they're suddenly getting married? She's insane! We only even saw that guy once, Hermione! _Once_! How can she possibly be so sure of marrying him?" Ginny screamed outrageously the very time she came barging inside Hermione's room.

Hermione pressed the bridge of her nose, the other hand massaging her temple as she scooted near her bed post, trying so hard to hide herself inside her blankets. She didn't want any visitors today. She had cried herself to sleep last night after that disastrous dinner with Draco.

She honestly didn't want to talk about anything with anyone today, but Ginny invited herself in. She practically intruded inside her home and barged straight inside her room, not caring if she was asleep or not. Ginny was her best girl friend, but she could be a little obtuse at times, not caring what privacy really meant.

One time, the feisty red head even burst inside her room when Hermione and Theo were in the shower. She just sat and waited on the bed while asking them to quickly finish 'it' up and get out because she had something very urgent to tell Hermione.

Ginny was probably the only person in this planet who could do that and not care a bit.

"And he's what? Ten years older than she is?" Ginny continued babbling, pacing around the room now while resignedly waving her arms in the air.

"Six, Ginny. He's six years older." Hermione rolled her eyes as she got out of the blanket and stared at her fiery friend.

"Exactly! He's too _old_ for her! She's too innocent! Luna's like a little harmless baby who loves inventing little cute fairy friends while he's the big bad wolf who could eat her whole in a second! I mean, where the hell is the logic in that? How can you marry a wolf when you're a bloody fairy?" Ginny shrieked while pulling her hair in a maddening manner. The girl had lost it.

"He seems really besotted with Luna," Hermione placated her friend. "Give the guy a break, Gin. He was kind enough to meet us. You were even a bit friendly with him. He even tried his hardest to be good friends with Harry and the others by playing Quidditch with them at the burrow. Remember how pleased Luna was that she even cried in happiness before the afternoon tea?"

"But I honestly didn't think they'd get married after a freaking month! I even thought Luna was just experimenting or something, trying to know what it's like to have an evil boyfriend or something to fend off all those nargles she's talking about! But nooo, she decided to actually marry the git!"

"Ginny…"

"And now, poof! They're suddenly off giving invitations to this grand wedding at the beach. I got mine a while ago. I also got yours at your mailbox, by the way. Here," Ginny announced while carelessly tossing the beautiful envelope with pink laces and glittering pixie paintings on her bed.

Leave it to Ginny to get her mails for her as well.

"Well, I've never seen Luna so happy," Hermione sighed as she placed the envelope on her desk. "Maybe they just work that way, you know. It's not about the length of time. It's about your faith and devotion to each other."

"Hermione, she barely knows the man. It's only been a month, for goodness' sake!" Ginny argued as she sat on her friend's bed.

"And I have been together with the same man for years and years before and look where it got me," Hermione murmured bitterly, more to herself.

"Oh, Hermione!" Ginny suddenly hugged her tightly. "At least you have Theo now. If that Marcus Flint breaks Luna's heart, I won't be able to take the drama again! I mean, one heartbroken friend is enough, you know! Well, not that you're still not over that Malfoy git. Of course you are. It's just that, Flint is inside Malfoy's circle of friends and I'm really worried for Luna. Birds with the same feathers flock together, after all."

"Flint wants to marry Luna. There's a huge difference, Gin. Draco never wanted to marry me. Marriage was a faux to him." Hermione smiled sadly at her friend. She didn't know why that statement stung as well; maybe because it was the truth.

"Did you sometimes wish before that Draco had offered you marriage as well?" Ginny quietly asked, temporarily forgetting her outburst on Luna's unsought decision of marrying a total stranger.

"I waited for more than four years, didn't I?" Hermione whispered back.

Ginny was suddenly quiet as she finally stared at her friend. Hermione looked away and took the time to stand up and go to the bathroom to fix herself. She looked like a mess and she knew that Ginny had finally noticed it, even if the red head kept it to herself. She was grateful that she understood.

Hermione was a muddle of complete, utter wreck last night. She had gone home crying and shaking, almost fainting in heartbreak and hatred. Seeing him again and talking to him face to face like that brought back every single hurtful memories she had with him. She couldn't believe just how much it really still ruined her. He held the power of hurting her, of twisting that particular knife that was still very much stuck inside her chest. And it just wasn't fair.

She _hated_ Draco, _hated_ him so much to the point that she could have had actually killed him if she had stayed longer. He even had the gall to show himself and shamelessly flirt with her after everything that he had done. The bastard.

She knew he planned all of this to get her again. Maybe he got bored with his life and was out for her so he could play with her again. Well, _fuck you_, Draco Malfoy. She was never going back to him. She was never going to get hurt again.

If it was a game he wanted then she'd give it to him. Only this time, she knew she would win in the end.

"I had just dinner with Draco Malfoy last night," Hermione breathlessly confessed as she went out of the bathroom to face her friend.

"You—WHAT?" Ginny bellowed; looking like someone had just squished her face in order to squelch her eyeballs out. It was comical and if the situation wasn't that serious, Hermione could have had laughed.

"It turns out that he's one of the biggest benefactors of my department's annual fundraiser ball. I didn't know it was him until the dinner," Hermione explained as she sat hastily on the bed, covering her face with her hands.

"He planned this, Hermione! It's so obvious! Oh, that git! When will he ever leave you alone? He's a sadistic prat!" Ginny shrieked despicably as she stood up and continued to pace to and fro inside her friend's room once again, the 'Luna topic' completely forgotten.

"I know, Gin," Hermione sighed while squeezing her shaky hands.

"Theo will not be so happy about this," Ginny pointed out, staring at her almost jittery friend.

_Oh no._ Theo. She hadn't thought about him much regarding this matter.

Suddenly, she was scared beyond belief. A sensation of terror and dread unexpectedly slammed into her gut. It felt like she was riding a roller coaster and she was tossed by the side to fall down. She was having a hard time breathing again.

"S-Should I tell him? I should tell him, right? Or will it be a bad idea if I tell him? What if I tell him and then he confronts Draco and makes things worse? It's not a big deal, right? I can handle this. But if I don't tell him, however, he'll—"

"Hermione!" Ginny leaned down while grasping her friend's shoulders to steady her. She was mumbling nonstop and was now hyperventilating. "Just breathe with me, okay? That's right, breath…"

Hermione followed her friend's instruction and breathed as calmly as possible. No use for paper bags just because of Draco bloody Malfoy.

"Theo will be angry when he learns this," Hermione whimpered, still trying her very best to calm down. She wouldn't cry again. No. She had enough of that. Not this time.

"Oh, he'll be angry all right, but not at you, okay? You didn't do anything. It's that stupid git, Malfoy," Ginny reminded her, trying to propitiate her clearly panicked friend.

"Right," Hermione nodded frantically as she stood up and paced around the room, ignoring Ginny's pleas for her to sit down. "Right, you're right. I should tell Theo. He'll learn about this, anyway. He'll be there at the charity ball. It's best that it came from me than from anyone else. Right, that's right. You're right. Not my fault. Not at all. Okay, I can do this." She was doing the pursed lip breathing exercise now.

"It's going to be fine, Hermione," Ginny sighed, trying to appease her. "It's a ball. Lots of people are going to attend. Nothing's going to happen. Once the ball is over, your department will have Malfoy's money for the cause and all is going to be well. You won't ever need to talk to him again after it."

"I acted like a bitch to him last night," Hermione suddenly wittered.

"Well, good; serves the git right." Ginny nodded in approval.

"The thing is, he seemed… sad, more than angry or insulted," Hermione whispered while scrunching her face in a confused frown.

There was a long pause.

"I-I don't think Theo should know," Hermione suddenly concluded, stammering once again. "I just… maybe I can persuade him not to come and—"

"He'll be angrier if you don't tell him, Mione. Remember when you didn't tell him about your fake amnesia and he had to overhear it from my talk with Luna? Sorry about that by the way. Well, the thing is, Theo's your fiancé and Malfoy is out for the kill again. I know the git is going to make you come back to him. I don't know how he gets pleasure from whatever kind of sick, twisted happiness he gets from continually hurting you. Can't you see, Hermione? You're letting Malfoy win again!" Ginny admonished, dragging her friend to finally sit on the bed. She was making her dizzy. Wasn't pacing her job a while ago?

"But I don't want Theo in this mess. I don't want to see him hurt when he shouldn't even have to," Hermione sighed in frustration.

"You do realize that you, keeping this a secret from Theo, would seem like you're still having some feelings for your ex, right? That you're still affected," Ginny prompted.

"You're right."

"That you still have feelings for Malfoy?"

"Yes. What? NO! Of course not!" Pursed lip breathing was needed again. "W-What I meant to say was that you're right that I should tell Theo. After all, it's not my fault that the git happens to be the benefactor for my department's cause, right? I mean—"

"Hermione, we're back to the beginning of the discussion again," Ginny pointed out.

"You have to promise me one thing, Gin," Hermione suddenly stuttered as she grabbed her friend's shoulders to face her. She looked grim and terrified; Ginny couldn't say anything but nod.

"You have to promise me that no matter what happens you'll never let me go back to Draco."

"H-Hermione…"

"Promise me, Ginny! Swear to me!" Hermione shook her hard. She looked desperate. She looked like the broken hearted girl Ginny had tried to wrestle out of her wand a year ago just to prevent her from inflicting damage to herself. Ginny's heart broke for her.

"Yes, Hermione. I promise."

"I don't want to hurt Theo. I want to be with Theo. Please help me. Please… Draco will ruin me again. I don't want to go back. Please stop me from going back. I'm so scared… please," Hermione pleaded desperately as she fell down on her bed, pushing her face on her pillow just to stifle her cries. She tried so hard to stop herself from crying but the more she did, the more her tears swelled painfully in her eyes. She felt like she was being torn to pieces again.

Ginny swallowed the lump on her throat as she fisted her hands on Hermione's nightgown and harshly hauled her to sit and face her. "Dammit! Even if I have to curse you and bind you in the corner just to keep you away from that man, I will, Hermione! You cannot, and I repeat, _cannot_ ever go back to that cycle again, or Merlin help me, I will study the art of Obliviation myself just to erase that idiot from your memory! Do you even realize how stupid it's going to be when, Merlin forbid, you go back to him? Once is accidental, twice is coincidence… but thrice is just plain, unadulterated _stupidity_! Do you understand me?"

Hermione just whimpered helplessly.

"Get a bloody grip, Hermione!" Ginny continued her sermon while shaking her now crying friend. "You do not cry for him! You cannot cry for him! Dry those bloody tears! Stop crying! He's a scumbag! He's nothing compared to you! Years after this, you'll be happy and married and have kids while he's going to be all alone, Hermione! He's going to _die alone_! He's going to spend his entire life mooning over something he couldn't get because he had taken you for granted! He's THAT stupid! Can't you see? Stop crying! He's not worth it and he never will!"

Hermione was still crying nonstop as Ginny pulled her into a tight hug, gently stroking her hair to calm her down as she gently wept. Ginny couldn't help but finally cry with her as well. She had witnessed everything that her friend had gone through, and it just wasn't fair. She wanted to be strong for her best friend but the unfairness of it all broke her down.

Hermione had always been kind to people. She was selfless and compassionate. Ginny knew this because her own fiancé and her brother loved and adored her to death. Without Hermione, Ginny knew that none of those two would even survive. She was a beautiful person, inside and out and she just didn't deserve this kind of torment. She deserved to be loved.

Both girls were still softly crying and holding each other when the phone rang. Neither of them had the strength to move nor let go so they let the machine answer it.

There was a beep in the receiving end and Theo's soothing voice entered the line.

"Hey, baby. How's my beautiful fiancée this morning? I'm sorry I wasn't able to call you last night to ask you about your dinner with one of the fundraiser's benefactors. We had an emergency. We raided some illegal dealers who sold some important artefacts from the Department of Mysteries. Because of the high level of secrecy surrounding it, we needed the Unspeakables to guide us inside. I'm sorry, I know you don't want hearing these things, but I thought I should let you know less you wonder why I wasn't able to call. You're still probably asleep right now. Call me when you wake up, okay? I want to hear all about the dinner. You've been quite nervous about it but I know you did well, anyway. Call me, alright? And don't forget to get some breakfast. You know I hate it when you skip your meals. I love you."

After the beep, Hermione broke down and cried again.

* * *

**Song for the chapter: "The Scientist" by Coldplay (Draco's song for Hermione)**

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was not checked since my beta won't be able to start proof-reading it until after a week or so because of her exams. I already know just how late this update is and it's my entire fault so I decided I should just post it as soon as possible anyway even if it's not checked, so please excuse me if there are some missed grammatical errors and such. I'm usually very blind in checking my mistakes. I'll be editing this chapter anyway once my beta is back, so don't worry. :)**

**For the meantime, I really hope you like it. I love this story so much and I'm really intending to work on it as much as I can. I'm so sorry that my chapters are later than my usual updates. I'm just really weird lately. It's just that every time I sit and stare at the computer screen to type something, I just got NOTHING to write. Then when I'm busy or doing something else, or even when I'm asleep (weird), I'm suddenly being attacked by ideas and I knew then that I just needed to write it in an instant or I'll forget about it. Thus, the reason why I sleep with a notebook and pen under my pillow sometimes so I can write something even if I'm a bit groggy, lol. Another weird thing is I write better with a notebook and pen than with a laptop now, which is not who I really was before. Please tell me this happens to you sometimes too because I feel really weird. Maybe it's psychological on my part, haha, it's like having a specific on and off writer's block and having my muses in all the wrong instances. It's so damn annoying!**

**But anyway, thank you so much for being patient with me. You are all so lovely even if I make you all wait so long. I'm so sorry! I'm just really having a weird phase right now, I'll get over it. I love this story and I will never abandon it, so there. :)**

**Have a blessed day!**

**Sue**


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